Storms
by arrcy
Summary: Months before his Pokemon Journey finally begins, Ash befriends a Froakie during a trip to Kalos. This encourages Ash to learn more about Pokemon in the time before he leaves. Nobody is quite sure exactly how much it really helped, though. No shipping (under rewrite)
1. Kanto 1

**NOTICE : this story is being rewritten. all chapters are being replaced and updated**

* * *

At age nine, Ash and his mother payed a visit to Kalos. It was expensive, but his mother had a week off. According to her, it was for sightseeing. Ash doesn't mind - in fact, he's ecstatic. Not for the sights, of course, but for the pokemon. There were lots that Ash had never seen before !

"There really are a lot of different Pokemon ..." His mother notes as they walk, clearly attempting to catch his attention. She fails, of course, as her son ignores her, drinking in every detail of the foreign pokemon. Delia smiles warmly, despite her sigh. Ash was already dead set on becoming a pokemon trainer - and, to add, a pokemon master. But he didn't really _know_ anything about pokemon. He simply waved it off as unimportant - he'd learn it as he went. But that ... wasn't how he'd become a successful trainer.

Perhaps she could get some help from Professor Sycamore - as family friends to Professor Oak, he'd been showing them around, so perhaps.

* * *

On the second day of their visit, Ash finds an injured pokemon. It's a Kalos pokemon, a small bird. A Fletchling, he thinks it was called. It's lying on it's side, bruised and battered. Ash isn't sure if it has a trainer, as there's nobody else nearby. He can't just _leave it_ though. What would happen to it if he left it there ? Ash loves pokemon with all his heart, he simply couldn't.

A droplet of rain hits his nose, and Ash makes a decision.

The Fletchling isn't terribly injured, and wriggles as he picks it up, but ultimately stays still. Ash wonders if it knows he's going to help. The rain picks up, but Ash doesn't mind, pulling the flying type closer to him.

Ash considers where he should go. To the pokemon center, or to the lab ? The lab was closer, not to mention that Ash doesn't have the trainer license he needs to go the Pokemon Center. Mind made up, the boy hurries to the lab.

* * *

"It wasn't too injured, and it's made a full recovery." Sycamore explains. Ash beams as the Fletchling appears. "It does have a trainer, though. I've contacted him, and he's come to pick it up." Sycamore adds.

"But why'd he leave Fletchling ?" Ash asks, confused. He'd simply found Fletchling there, without a trainer. Ash doesn't quite understand. "And how'd you even find it ?" It didn't make sense to him, really.

"This Fletchling just likes going out on it's own sometimes. He's treated it well." Sycamore answers breezily, though he's grinning as he looks over at the small bird. It's clear that he's absolutely certain "The Pokeball leaves a mark on the Pokemon. Certain devices can pick it up, so that they can find the trainer."

"Oh." That was far too complicated for Ash to understand, but he was trying.

* * *

Ash encounters a Froakie on the third day. It shows up when Ash came to visit the Pokemon. Professor Sycamore had warned him against looking for wild Pokemon, and Ash was inclined to listen, reluctant as he was.

Ash recognizes it from the first day, when Professor Sycamore was showing them around. It had payed him passing interest then, but now it seems to be judging him. Ash fidgets slightly, but offers a big grin.

"Uh ... Hi ! You're Froakie, right ?" Ash tries, kicking his legs from his seat. Recieving an affirmative, Ash grins wider, if possible. "I'm Ash ! I'm going to be a pokemon master !" He says, confidently.

* * *

Ash managed to coax Froakie into talking with him more. After the first meeting, Ash made it a personal mission to befriend the frog pokemon before the end of the week.

And, apparently, he'd succeeded. It wasn't too hard either, as Froakie didn't attempt to avoid Ash, no matter how judgemental the starter was being. Ash was still trying to figure out the reason why, but to no avail.

Too bad they had to leave today. As glad as Ash was to be going back to familiar settings, it also meant leaving Froakie and the other pokemon he'd befriend behind. They at least understand, despite the considering expression on Froakie's face that Ash missed.

* * *

"Professor Sycamore called earlier." Ash's mother speaks. "He wants to talk to you." Ash looks up, confused.

"Why ?" He asked. She smiles.

"Why don't you ask him ?" Is all Delia says. Ash sighs in defeat and gets up, hurrying to the phone. He has to admit, he really does want to know.

* * *

"Froakie's abandoned many trainers in the past." Sycamore explains. "And yet, you haven't even started your journey." He seems more curious than anything, holding a pokeball in his hands.

"... What does that mean ?" Ash asks, more for confirmation than anything. He knows what the professor is saying, but he wants to be certain

"What I'm saying is that Froakie chose you. Why, I'm not quite sure. I'd like to send him over." Sycamore grins. Ash restrains himself from running to Oak's lab for the transport.

* * *

"... I mean, I have a pokemon now. But ... I guess being a trainer means more than I thought." Ash frowns. It was still only a few months until he got his trainer's lisence. But the reason he was doing this was primarily because of Froakie - he didn't want to make Froakie regret coming with, after all.

"Of course !" Delia answers, appearing relieved. "It might be a bit much to learn everything now, though ..." I mean, he only had a few months.

* * *

"... At least the Pokemon food turned out okay." Ash sighs. Froakie shrugs as he eats the brown pellets. Delia was in the kitchen, doing he best to clean up after Ash's mess.

His attempt at making food at turned out terribly. Every single time. He'd almost burned down the kitchen, and his mother had given up. He could make good pokemon food, the same that Froakie was eating, though. Human food, however ? ... Well, no.

* * *

"That's a lot of pokemon ... I don't have to learn them all, do I ?" He only had a few months, after all. Delia shook her head.

"Only the important ones. Once you start your journey you'll have to continue, though." She gives Ash a stern look. Ash deflates comically.

* * *

"This will probably be easier once I get the pokedex." Ash sighs. Froakie shrugs. "So, uh, you can learn a whole bunch of moves ... Maybe, just, not ?" Froakie gives him a confused look. Ash huffs, but elaborates

"Not moves, but speed and stuff. I think ?" Ash frowns. He thinks that was a part of training ... He read about it, but he hadn't really kept it in mind. Froakie, however, nods, understanding his attempts.

* * *

Ash wakes up to a face full of frubbles. He yelps and jolts out of bed, wiping it off his face with some effort. He glares at Froakie, who's watching him innocently.

"Hey, what's the big deal ?" He snaps, glaring halfheartedly. Froakie just points at his alarm, which had failed to awaken him. Ash winces. "Well, thanks I guess ..." Ash grumbles. If Froakie hadn't woken him, he would've been late. He doesn't appreciate the method, but Ash is at least glad Froakie woke him at all.

Professor Oak's lab is maybe five minutes away. Ash readies himself. He doesn't spend long at breakfast, either. He's simply too eager. Froakie hurries, too. Ash suspects it's less because he's eager and more to spare himself from Ash's eager nagging.

Luckily, they arrive at the lab on time, though Froakie has been recalled. Ash had kept Froakie as a secret of sorts - Gary was bad enough without anything to be jealous over. Knowing Ash already had a pokemon would make it worse, and Ash would rather avoid dealing with this.

"Ah, hello !" The professor greets as Ash walks in. The other trainers are already here, presumably because Ash had spent more time at home. He'd already wished a farewell to his mother and made sure he had everything on him, making him presumably more prepared than the others, excluding Gary.

"Now, there's four of you, so I'd like to ask which of you would step back and get a different starter ?" Oak asks. Ash hesitates. He hadn't realized that there'd be only three of the average starters, despite knowing already that four were becoming trainers. Then, seeing the other's hesitance(Gary seems entirely unconcerned), Ash nods. He already had Froakie, so perhaps getting a different starter wouldn't hurt him too much.

"I'll do it." Ash speaks up. Oak appears unsurprised, as he smiles and proceeds to allow the other trainers to choose their pokemon. Gary chooses first, a squirtle. Otherwise, Ash doesn't care - he doesn't know the other trainers much at all, as they were from other places in Kanto.

Ash watches as Oak hands out the Pokedexes to the others, then turns to Ash, still smiling kindly. Ash beams with excitement, following the elderly Professor as he motions to the boy.

"I have another Pokemon, a Pikachu, but I haven't managed to tame it." Oak sighs. Ash blinks, then hesitates. Okay, so a wild Pikachu, probably one with little interaction with humans. He'd be more okay with this if Froakie wasn't weak to Electric types. Ash then takes the pokeball on the table, frowning.

"I'll do it !" Ash agrees, nodding. It might be a bit hard, but he can do it. All he really needs is to get Pikachu to listen to him, then he can work up from there. "I'll take it outside, though." No use ruining Oak's lab, after all.

* * *

"Alright ... I hope it doesn't attack us." Ash sighs. Froakie seems somewhat worried, presumably due to the fact that it's an electric type. Ash is somewhat glad that it's now, though - the next gym leader trains rock types, and iron tail admittedly takes fairly long to teach. Unless he wanted to sweep it with Froakie, but that wasn't quite fair.

A Pikachu forms as Ash presses the button. It shakes itself out, then promptly sends out a thundershock, of which Ash throws himself out of the way. It hadn't been aimed at Froakie, and while Froakie appreciated not getting hit, he couldn't appreciate the intent. The bubble frog glares and lets out an indignant "Froa !", to which the Pikachu glares. Ash sighs, sitting up.

"Please don't fight ..." Ash sighs. Froakie quiets, but remains tense. Ash turns back to Pikachu. "Okay, my name's Ash Ketchum. I'm your trainer." Pikachu merely glares, fur ruffled. Ash sighs. This would take a while.

* * *

 **ok so hopefully this is ok. This first chapter is around 2k, but I'll be trying to reach 5k in the later chapters. This is just full of short things ok. the future chapters** _ **should**_ **be a bit better, but no promises. i decided not to go over ash getting pikachu to listen, because im super lazy :^)**

 **so for readers who didnt read the first one(and please dont now that ur here), hello ! this is basically the usual 'stronger ash' fic, but i hope to make it a little bit different ? he behaves a little bit differently early on because i just,,,,,,,,,, . anyways, ash sort of gets froakie. i'm going to try and make sure he stays in character, because its a major pet peeve when ash basically acts completely different from the anime. i dont think im succeeding. i sure hope sam(from my other fic, gleaming) and ash dont become the same character lmao**

 **and, relating to the first fic, the backstory behind how ash got froakie changed because it was awful in the first fic o h my go d... the first fic was ? so cringy ? i mean, the way he gets froakie is flimsy at best here, but the other way,,,,,, im not even going to talk about it,,,,,, please don't read it its my worst nightmare. i embodied what i hated in fanfics and i want to d i e. this isnt too much better, as it's literally three months after the first, but anyways,,,,**

 **also i'd like to point out, for those who didn't realize, the fletchling was the reason Froakie took interest in Ash. though im not sure if i should do anything with fletchling later.**

 **im wonderng if charizard should be shiny tho ? id like to note that this will change ash's kanto team ; instead of an espeon, a shiny umbreon, and a clefairy, he will get a sylveon. ash will get espeon and umbreon much later, however, though clefairy was mostly there for fairy typing lmao.**

 **ash's pokemon ; froakie, pikachu**


	2. Kanto 2

**this chapter is a lot better than the last one :p**

 **/**

"Pika ..." Pikachu grumbles, trotting alongside Ash. Froakie rests on Ash's shoulder, watching the electric type warily. While they'd come to a compromise much earlier, he doesn't quite trust the rodent. Ash is just glad that Pikachu agreed to listen, just so long Ash makes him stronger. Of course, that's what he'd been planning to do in the first place - he was planning on becoming a trainer, after all !

"Let's see ... We should get to Viridian city fairly early tomorrow if we stop now," Ash hums, looking through his pokedex. They'd been walking for several hours, and it was getting dark. It was just another three hours, three hours that Ash wasn't going to spend walking in pitch black. Besides, it was a good opportunity to train, as neither Froakie nor Pikachu seemed tired. Though, admittedly, Froakie was better off. Even if the bubble frog pokemon had been walking alongside Pikachu the whole time, he still probably would have, as he'd been training with Ash for longer.

It takes a few minutes to set the tent up. Pokemon food ingredients sit to the side, for Ash to make while his pokemon train. He doesn't doubt they'll be hungry and exhausted by the end, though likely Pikachu more than Froakie.

"Right ! So, Froakie, how about you go work on smokescreen ?" Ash requests. They'd been working on it for a while, though they found it was a fairly difficult techique. See, smokescreen obscured the vision of all those around it using smoke or ink. However, Froakie didn't naturally produce either of these. According to the pokedex, however, Froakie and it's evolution line made a sort of psuedo-smoke. The science was lost on the boy, though Froakie was getting fairly close now.

"So, Pikachu, first we're going to work on your speed," Ash explains, going through the pokedex. Somehow, Pikachu hadn't learned Quick Attack, which would be useful for dodging, at least until he was taught agility. "What I want you to do is run between those trees until I tell you to stop." Pikachu glares, but does so anyways, hopping off. Ash sighs. Right, so he had to make some pokemon food. Maybe then he'd see how Froakie was doing.

/

"So you figured it out ?" Ash asks cheerfully as he eats his own meal, which wasn't much, admittedly. Froakie nods, and shows off with a wisp of smoke. Ash hums. "Can you do more ?" He asks. Froakie shakes its head. Ash doesn't mind - they'd been working on it for under a week, after all. Ash nods. "Maybe we'll get it tomorrow, then !" Ash chirps. It certainly wasn't battle-ready quite yet, but they were certainly close. Nearby, Pikachu grumbles.

"C'mon, you've got to admit, you're a lot faster," Ash grins crookedly. Pikachu looks away grumpily. Ash sighs. He's not sure what it'll take to get the electric rodent to like him, but he supposed that it'll take a while. From what he can tell, Pikachu has had little experience with humans, and the ones he has are negative. Ash can't blame him - there were far too many people who didn't care for pokemon. Hated them, hurt them. Ash hates it. But ... Maybe if he gives Pikachu time, he can show the rodentthat not all humans were bad.

/

"Here's your pokemon back !" Nurse Joy tells him. Ash beams and thanks her, taking Froakie's pokeball back as Pikachu, reluctantly, climbs onto his shoulder. It's an improvement from the previous night - he and Froakie had tried to get Pikachu to open up on their way to Viridian City, though the effect had been minimal. But once Pikachu began to trust them, Ash is certain that it'll only become easier from there.

Right. They're going to Viridian Forest in a little while - a few hours, tomorrow, Ash is uncertain. But he needs to get some supplies first. Ash frowns, releasing Froakie. He's not used to being a trainer - however, Froakie, being a pokemon, should be able to fill in what Ash spaces. He doesn't think Pikachu will help, though. That's fine.

Above him, a window breaks. Ash stops dead, briefly remembering that Officer Jenny had said something about Rocket criminals just moments before. Had they - ? The Koffing fills the room with Smokescreen. From nowhere, two silhouetted figures appear, donned in white outfits. Seeing the R on their uniforms, Ash abruptly realizes that this might just be Team Rocket. They were infamous for stealing pokemon throughout the region. Were they here for - ?

"We're here for the Pokemon !" A meowth announces. Ash blinks a couple of times. A talking Meowth ? Realizing that now wasn't the time, Ash clenches his teeth. Okay, so Team Rocket. They only had an Ekans and a Koffing ... He hoped that Pikachu and Froakie could take them.

"Thunderbolt !" Ash whisper-shouts to Pikachu. If he'd really shouted, the Rockets would have an immediate response. As expected, the Rockets - Jessie and James, he thinks they are. They'd introduced themselves rather clearly just earlier, during a motto that Ash simply didn't see the purpose of. Anyways, Jessie and James responded late, turning to see the Electric Rodent sparking with electricity. In the background, Nurse Joy hurries to get the Pokemon to safety.

The electric attack envelops the Rockets. Somehow, this sends them blasting through the roof, shouting something loudly. Ash does a double-take.

"That was ... Anti-climatic." He'd destroyed a Pokemon Center, certainly, but Pikachu had shot people into space with a single attack. Disappointing. At least the Pokemon were safe, he supposes.

/

"Thundershock, please," Ash speaks. It's less of a command and more of a request - if Pikachu doesn't want to do it, then he'll let Froakie do it. It's a gradual process, after all - maybe Pikachu doesn't want to help capture wild pokemon. There's a difference between trainer battles and wild battles in the end.

Perhaps surprisingly, Pikachu obliges, shooting a weak thundershock at the bug pokemon. Ash isn't entirely sure why he's capturing the weak little bug type, but he supposes it wouldn't hurt. It's unlikely that he'll get any bug type pokemon until the Safari Zone. Besides, Ash did like Butterfree, they just didn't particularly excell in anything.

Ash tosses a regular pokeball. It rocks merely one, then lights up with a ding. Ash grins, hurrying over and scooping up the red ball. Froakie lets out a cheer at their first captured teammate. Pikachu appears disinterested, watching them blandly. Ash grins.

"Hopefully it's not hurt too badly." Ash hum. Caterpie were weak, and even a weak thundershock like Pikachu's might've nearly fainted it. He hopes not, but even so.

Ash releases the Caterpie onto a tree stump. The little green creature looks around, blackened and confused. Then, zeroing in on Ash, it lets out a curious sound, bordering on happy. Had it wanted to get captured ? Ash wouldn't be too surprised - though it did make his job a lot easier.

"Hi there, Caterpie !" Ash speaks cheerfully, kneeling down to Caterpie's level. "I'm Ash, I'm your trainer now." He'd learned from Pikachu that introducing himself was the first thing to do, if you wanted to bond with the pokemon faster. Behind him, Froakie greets the Pokemon. Pikachu offers something half-heartedly. Ash smiles warmly.

/

"That's it !" Ash cheers. Pikachu and Caterpie were holding a mock battle - Pikachu was holding back, of course, but the purpose was training. Caterpie work on endurance, and hopefully work on Bug Bite - according to the Pokedex, it was a whole lot easier to teach in the first stage. While Caterpie had it for the most part, it was still weak. And on Pikachu's part, he was learning not to rely on electric attacks. While Ash allowed him to use them occasionally, Pikachu was expected to use Quick Attack and Iron Tail, which was still very weak.

Ash had been doing his best to train the team, recently. Pikachu still wasn't good at using Iron Tail - he could only hold it for seconds at a time, and most of the time it was still only semi-solidified. Froakie was working on how to dispence even more smoke into his Smokescreen, or on the side make more Double Team copies. Caterpie, of course, could only learn Bug Bite. It was the only move they worked on - otherwise Ash just built up Caterpie's endurance, as it'd be the only thing that remained in the future.

A loud cry of a bird interupts the session. Above them, a Pidgeotto dives, aiming for prey. Pikachu sparks, clearly annoyed, but Froakie beats him to it, a Water Pulse slamming into Pidgeotto. The bubble of water disrupts the flying type's flight, and it wobbles, crashing to the ground. Ash blinks. Pikachu glares at Froakie, waving it arms as it speaks it flurries of annoyed 'Pikas'. It's clear that Pikachu would've preferred doing it himself. Ash sighs.

Caterpie, in the midst of the argument, lights up. Ash turns, alarmed. Was Caterpie ... Evolving ? An odd timing, perhaps, but Ash doesn't mind. He's glad that Caterpie is evolving so soon, as well. As Caterpie's form changes into a caccoon shape, Ash watches, fascinated. It's the first pokemon evolution he's witnessed himself, and he admits, it's fascinating.

Metapod breaks from the light, and though obviously much slower, also much closer to the final stage. Ash grins and congragulates him warmly. In the meantime, Froakie takes an empty Pokeball - by the look on Ash's face, he'd planned on catching the Pidgeotto until Caterpie evolved. At least the Pidgeotto wouldn't escape, now.

/

"I challenge you to a battle !" A day before Ash reached Pewter, a voice interupts. Ash spins around, alarmed, but finds a sword in his face. He yelps, backing away several steps. He'd rather not get his face stabbed, thank you very much.

"Um ... Okay. Who are you ?" Ash asks, uncomfortable. Froakie is about to take a place on the battlefield(After all, Ash doesn't typically care who partakes in unofficial battles), but Metapod beats him to it, bouncing clumsily. Both Froakie and Pikachu give it an odd look -they weren't even aware what the opponent's pokemon would be, and the only attacking move Metapod knew was Bug Bite.

"I am Samurai ! I am challenging all of the Trainers of Pallet to battle !" Samurai speaks. Ash frowns. He's very loud. Ash takes a moment to look over his pokedex - he's uncertain where the major Beedrill hive is located, but he certainly doesn't want to disturb it, even if by mistake.

"Well ... We should probably get farther away from the Bedrill hive, first ..." Ash says, hesitant. Samurai acts as though he wants to battle this instant, he doesn't think he'd accept.

"Nonsense, we'll -" Samurai stops mid-sentece, swiping a face full of Frubbles off. He glares at Froakie. "Very well." Samurai says, reluctant. Ash spares Froakie a thankful glance, then scoops Metapod into his arms, following the Bug type trainer as they grow father from the Bedrill hive. Ash is at least glad he won't be stabbed to death, at least.

Once they've come a safe distance, Samurai eagerly prepares a Pokemon, calling out a Pinsir. Ash frowns, glancing at Metapod on the field. Metapod seemed unbothered by the opponent, so he sighs and gives. He trusts Metapod, despite the short time they've spent together.

"A foolish choice, novice. Pinsir, vice grip !" The Samurai calls. Ash considers his options - an attack like that would be brutal - if it didn't potentially kill Metapod, it would have a bad outcome nonetheless. Ash frowns.

"Metapod, harden !" Ash calls, hopeful. The outcome was just as hoped, as the Pinsit grips Metapod between its horns. As it squeezes ... Nothing happens. Pinsir squeezes harder, but to no avail, as it's horns crack. They don't break, but they come close. Seeing this as a defeat - perhaps Pinsir only knew vice grip ? - Samurai recalls Pinsir. Ash frowns.

"Now, Metapod !" Samurai calls. Ash stops. And frowns. A Metapod. Another Metapod. Ash shakes his head slightly. Metapod usually didn't know moves beside Harden, but Ash supposes he can scrape out a victory if he uses Bug Bite quickly. Metapod appears to already know this, as it hops forwards as quickly as a Metapod can, trying to reach the othre before it uses Harden. He fails.

Bug Bite doesn't do much, at this point. Not that it really did much in the first place, as Metapod didn't have a mouth in the first place. Ash frowns. Metapod, growing increasingly frustrated, lights up with Evolution. Ash stops. It'd only been a day ... Did Caterpies really evolve that fast ? Or was this one an exception ? Huh.

As Butterfree finishes evolving, it immediately begins using Gust, clearly frustrated. Metapod were rather hard to fight, he had to admit - they were useless, though, it was simply Harden that was difficult.

As Butterfree then glides over to Ash, happily landing on his head, Ash grins. Well, he won, he supposed. It wasn't that hard, though - if he could blow through with Metapod(well, Butterfree, now), then he supposed that the opponent wasn't that tought.

/

"How good's your steel wing ?" Ash requests. Pidgeotto ruffles her feathers, though glides into the air upon request, wings lighting up a shining steel. She slices into the trees, though the attack falls apart mid attack. The bird lets out a distressed sound, returning to alight upon Ash's shoulder. He smiles apologetically.

"Well, I want to participate in the gym as soon as possible ..." Ash speaks quietly. But would it matter if they got more training in ? He probably neede to work on Pikachu's Iron Tail anyways, and Froakie was improving his water attacks still ... And Butterfree was still getting adjusted to his new form.

Ash shakes his head.

"Well, I guess we can train more." Ash grins. Pidgeotto chirps happily.

/

"Mantain it !" Ash calls, excited. Butterfree dodges above a Steel Wing, though gets hit by an incoming Iron Tail. He can't help but feel somewhat sympathetic - both Pikachu and Pidgeotto were ganging up on him. Even if they were neutral against Butterfree, they were coming from every angle. Butterfree was still determined to do it, though.

Ash supposes this is a fairly good training session. Butterfree managed to work on speed, endurance, and evasion all at once, while Pikachu and Pidgeotto were getting better with their Steel attacks. While Pikachu was focusing more on improving it, however, Pidgeotto was focusing specifically on mantaining it. She'd started much later than Pikachu, after all.

Somewhere behind him, Froakie focuses on using his water attacks. While he only had two - Bubble and Water Pulse - he was focusing more on power and aim. It was training for the next gym, you could say, where Ash planned on using Froakie, primarily due to type advantage. Ash still wasn't sure who else he'd use, though. He supposes it came down to the results of training in the end.

 **/**

 **shit this is only 3k words,,,,, maybe itll get easier once we get brock,,,,, plus then we might not have to put so many breaks into the story,,,**

 **as you may notice, pikachu and ash don't become friends right away. pikachu doesn't trust humans, and they didn't have the life threatening experience to bond so quickly. Instead, it's up to ash to get pikachu to open up, with some help from froakie.**

 **anyways, froakie didn't evolve into frogadier already like last time, nope. he's still fairly close to evolving, but i might wait until around the second gym. anyways, nothing eventful really happens this chapter - actually, its kind of more filler-y, just to slow the story down. aside from the capture of butterfree and pidgeotto, it's definitely filler. sorry that its 3k words :^)**

 **im trying to get these done as quickly as possible. the combination of old and new is gross, but it'll take me another day or two. As stated, I'm trying to make these 5k words, so I can't make them as frequently or easily as the original 2k.**

 **aka im super lazy lmao**

 **ash's pokemon ; froakie, pikachu, butterfree, pidgeotto**


	3. Kanto 3

**3/7 !**

* * *

"I don't think we'll have enough time before the gym, but would you like to start learning Energy Ball ?" Ash asks Butterfree, curious. He'd set the plan for a gym battle in three days, and according to the Pokedex, it'd take a week or so for Butterfree to fully learn it. Despite this, Ash thinks they'll have it semi-completed by the gym battle, if they work hard.

* * *

"Um... Okay ! Pidgeotto, Pikachu, are you okay with not participating in this gym ?" Ash frowns. He'd considered getting Pikachu to participate, but figured he could use the Electric rodent would be better in Cerulean, where he had the type advantage. Even better, Ash had more time to gain Pikachu's trust, which would hopefully allow them to pull off more risky plans. As it was, Pikachu likely wouldn't listen to orders that he didn't entirely agree with. That was fine, it just meant he wouldn't do well in a rock type gym.

Pikachu lets out a squeak, appearing slightly disappointed. An improvement from the Electric type's previous apathy, he supposes. Pidgeotto seems relieved, as she ruffles her wings. Ash supposes she has reason to be - Flying Types were weak to Rock Types, so she probably wouldn't do well.

"Alright, good ! Butterfree, I'll use you against ... What, his Geodude ?" Ash looks over the Pokedex, frowning. It stated that the gym leader, Brock, generally used a Geodude and Onix on first-time challengers. In fact, he might have an idea for Onix .

* * *

Ash pushes in through the doors, adjusting his cap. Pikachu walks beside him, appearing confused. The gym leader doesn't respond to his entrance, and Ash can't see whoever it is in the darkness.

"Hello ?" Ash calls, frowning. "I'm here to challenge the gym." He adds. Something lights up in Ash's peripheral. The boy whirls around, alarmed. The gym leader, Brock, he thinks the name is, sits cross-legged before him. Ash swallows hard.

"Who goes there ?" Brock demands. Ash frowns. He thinks that Brock's strategy is intimidation - most trainers would be affected, and those that are would either flee or stand their ground. Perhaps it was to help weed out the weak trainers ? Hm.

"I'm Ash, from Pallet Town." He answers. He's already told Brock what he was here for, so the boy remains quiet otherwise. He wonders where the battlefield is, distantly.

Almost as if on cue, something starts rolling in. Ash yelps as it moves at a medium speed towards him, scooping up Pikachu and hurrying out of the way. Pikachu sparks, annoyed, but doesn't shock his trainer, at least.

"Do you know the rules ?" Brock asks, simply. Ash gets the idea that far too many trainers come here uninformed, but understands the necessity of the rules being necessary.

"Two on Two, Challenger can switch out." Ash answers as he moves onto his end of the platform. He'd looked up the details shortly before he'd come here, in case the gym leader didn't tell him. It happened, occasionally, and sometimes gym leaders had different rules, in a way. Brock nods. At least he didn't have to go over them again.

As Brock calls out a Geodude, Ash makes his move, tossing up Butterfree's pokeball. The Butterfree materializes. Brock snorts.

"I have the advantage. You can't win." The gym leader calls. Ash bristles, eyes narrowing. Just because Butterfree was weak to Rock Types doesn't mean that he'd lose.

"Geodude, Rollout !" Brock calls. Ash frowns. What was the point of that ? Butterfree was in the air, how was Geodude supposed to reach him ? But Gym Leaders weren't Gym Leaders for nothing, and Ash wasn't about to see whatever plan Brock had up his sleeve to go through.

"Confusion !" Ash calls. He hopes that Geodude is light enough to throw around - if not, well, then they'd struggle to win. By the look on Butterfree's face, it doesn't seem so. They hadn't practiced with Butterfree's psychic powers enough, he supposes. He thought he had, but apparently not.

"Propel it, then !" Ash calls, seeing Brock open his mouth. To taunt him, or to call orders, he's not sure, but he's not going to let Brock do it. Butterfree uses his confusion to force Geodude to go even faster, slamming into the wall at high speeds, unable to stop itself. Ash grins triumphantly. Geodude rolls out from the wall, heavily damanged, but still in the fight.

"Geodude, Mega Punch !" Brock calls. Geodude hops, and slams a white-glowing fist into Butterfree. Ash winces as Butterfree slams into the wall, though he quickly recovers, floating out of the indent in the wall. He's injured, but seems fine.

"Butterfree, Energy Ball !" Ash calls. In truth, it wasn't really Energy Ball - they hadn't gotten that far yet. The sphere forms before Butterfree, but it's fuzzy and small, not nearly as impressive as it should be. Brock doesn't seem to notice, instead ordering Geodude to dodge. Butterfree doesn't fire it yet, instead focusing on the green orb - he had to make sure it didn't fail once it fired, after all. Then, and only then, did Butterfree attack. Geodude, alarmed by the delayed attack, lets out a cry as the fuzzy green orb hits it. It struggles, then faints. Though the Energy Ball may have been weak, it was super effective against the already weakened Geodude, though Ash doesn't think it'd been trained very well yet. As to be expected, being a first-badge pokemon.

"Go, Onix !" Brock calls, even as he recalls Geodude. The Gym Leader seems annoyed. Of course, as Ash had defeated Geodude fairly easily.

"Froakie !" Ash calls, after recalling Butterfree. Butterfree wouldn't last long against Onix as it was, and Froakie kind of deserved this chance. The Bubble Frog Pokemon had been with him longer than the others, after all, so it was only fair.

"Right. Bubble !" Ash calls, taking the first move while Brock tried to figure exactly what pokemon Froakie was. Did he not study pokemon outside of Kanto ? Surely he had run into foreign pokemon ? Or was Kalos just too far ? Huh.

Onix dodges to the side of the attack with relative ease, then smashes it's tail against the ground. It crumbles and rocks fly towards Froakie, who dodges most of them himself, though some hit him. Ash frowns.

"Use Smokescreen !" The move was good enough to use in battle at last, though they still had to work on how much he could produce. Nonetheless. The dark psuedo-smoke spreads, obscuring their vision of the battlefield. Ash is glad he trained Froakie to battle blind - it wasn't perfect, of course. They hadn't been working on that until they realized that Smokescreen also made it harder for Froakie to see.

"You just blinded yourself, too." Brock sounds almost disproving. Ash sighs. What does it take to earn some praise ? Or at least not have Brock looking down on him so much. "Onix, Dig !" Brock calls. Ash frowns. Double Team won't do anything, neither will the Smokescreen they have up. Dig relied on feeling where your opponent is, and Double Team was ... less than solid.

"Get a Water Pulse ready !" Ash calls instead. Onix would come out from below Froakie, where he could fire an attack right into the face. In fact, even if Froakie got hit, they'd know where their opponent is, on the downside previously stated, and Onix knowing where Froakie was.

As Onix bursts from the ground, he slams into Froakie, who flies into the air, before adjusting himself, firing the semi-solid orb into Onix's face. It roars, rearing back. Ash grins, as Froakie lands and dashes to the side, now directing a bubble at his foe.

"Heavy Slam !" Brock sounds worried. Onix lets out a rumble, then glows in a yellow light, taking a few seconds to locate its target among the smoke, before charging. He misses Froakie, unable to redirect itself as Froakie dashes to the side, unable to see him. Ash grins. He supposes that the Smokescreen hadn't been a mistake after all, as they hadn't been able to use it to their advantage until now. Not that he could see where Onix was, now, but still !

"Use Bubble when you find Onix !" Ash calls. Froakie lets out an affirmative, slipping into the fog. It's several seconds until Ash is away that Froakie got something, as he hears Onix let out a cry. The ground beneath him trembles as Onix thrashes, then ... it stills. Ash isn't sure if Froakie just used bubble, or other things. Hm.

Brock sighs. Ash hears a pokeball, signifiying that Onix was called back. Ash can't see it through the smoke, and blinks a few times, then grins wide as Froakie returns, appearing almost excited. Ash can't blame him - they'd just gotten their first gym badge together ! Ash kneels, wrapping his arms around Froakie in a hug, beaming.

"We did it !" The boy cheers. Across the field, as the smoke clears as large fans push it out. As expected, Onix is no longer on the field. Brock is nodding, accepting his defeat.

"Very well. You did well," Brock admits, a slight turn to his mouth hinting at a smile. Pikachu squeaks to Froakie as well, who nods. Ash has to admit, he's a bit surprised the two are starting to get along - they'd been very wary of each other early on, but he supposes that's the way it is.

"Thank you," Ash tells Brock with a grin. The battlefield draws back even as Brock crosses it, clutching something in his hand.

"The Boulder Badge," Brock explains, placing it in Ash's hands. Ash beams, feeling rather excited. It was his first badge, after all.

* * *

"I've always wanted to be a Pokemon Breeder,"

"Huh ?" Ash looks up, confused. Once it registers, Ash blinks. "Then why aren't you ?" He can't help but ask, tilting his head. Brock laughs slightly, bitter.

"I was left in charge of the gym when my dad left," Brock admits, sighing. "Never got a chance." Ash frowns. He's not sure what to say to that. He doesn't think he can help, either. He wishes he could, too.

* * *

"Ash, wait up !" Ash stops as a voice calls out to him. The boy whirls around, confused. He'd just been about to release his Pokemon for the trip - at least then they weren't in their Pokeballs all the time - but somebody had called out to him.

"Brock ?" Ash questions, confused. He already had the badge, what else could the Gym Leader want ?

"My dad came back !" Brock explains. Ash is about to congragulate, and ask what he meant, but is interupted, presumably because Brock could tell what Ash is about to say. "I'd like to travel with you, to achieve my dream." Brock finished. Ash blinks a few times, then grins - he supposes he wouldn't be completely alone, then. He didn't want to be in the first place, but it's not like he had any friends.

"Of course !" Ash chirps, feeling just a little bit lighter. Behind him, Pikachu lets out a slight squeak of complaint. Oops, he probably should've asked his Pokemon to make sure they were fine with it, but denying Brock would also seem ... Wrong, in a way. Ash could rarely deny people as it was, much less an aspiring Pokemon Breeder(and ex-gym leader, of course) who he'd already befriended.

* * *

 **i didnt rewatch the episode while writing this and i accidentally deleted the reference chapter lmao,,,,, fuck me,,,,,,, and sorry that the chapter cut off so suddenly i didnt know how to end it and im tired**

 **anyways ive changed the minimum word thing ? gym battle chapters are minimum 2k words. otherwise its 3k, instead of 5k. i cant manage to stretch myself to 5k, especially if i want to slow it down, but i got a few complaints that 2k was too short for normal chapters. meanwhile gym battle chapters are just bc i cant fit anything else in lol**

 **i renamed the old ver. chapters so that people hopefully dont think theyre part of the story lmao. ive only got 2(3, now) up atm, and**

 **i edited the previous chapters, too. just little things, though.**

 **anyways ive made a decision ? ive decided ill go**

 **ash's pokemon ; froakie, pikachu, butterfree, pidgeotto**


	4. Kanto 4

**yO MAN HAPPY(6 days late) 2017 !**

* * *

Ash finds that it's slowly becoming more common for Pikachu to hitch rides on Ash's shoulders - it's a substantial improvement from when they first met. Ash can't blame him for doing it, though. The hike to Mt. Moon is tiring, and he doesn't think a Pokemon with low stamina like Pikachu could manage it. Not that they weren't working on it - Pikachu was plenty better from when they'd first met, anyways.

At the moment, Ash had other Pokemon out, as well. Butterfree rests atop Ash's head, and Froakie on the shoulder opposite of Pikachu. Overhead Pidgeotto glides, glad to take the chance to spread her wings. It's not like Ash was able to let his Pokemon out very often - Froakie and Pikachu, certainly, but only because they were smaller Pokemon. Ash is disappointed to say he'll be less capable of letting Froakie out once he evolves.

It was all a matter of what people were comfortable with. In the city, he couldn't let Pidgeotto out very frequently, though the rest of his team was fine. In fact, Ash doesn't think he'll be able to let most of his future Pokemon out of their Pokeballs - unless they were small, cute, and generally unintimidating, it just wouldn't work out, and Ash doesn't think that most Pokemon stay that way upon evolution - if they wanted to evolve, that is.

Ash was getting ahead of himself, however - he had no planned team after all, it was simply a matter of what Pokemon he ran into on his journey. Ash wasn't about to go desparately searching for Rare Pokemon or whatever else - there wasn't really a point to it. More common pokemon could be stronger than rare pokemon, after all.

Abovehead, Pidgeotto lets out a sudden screech as she dives, coming to level with Ash and Brock, wings flapping as she intercepts with them.

"Huh, Pidgeotto ?" Ash yelps, alarmed. She doesn't seem to be hurt ... Pidgeotto continues making noise, however, and Froakie takes it upon himself to translate. Froakie motions quickly, and Ash blinks.

"I think they want us to follow them !" Brock attempts to translate unhelpfully - Ash had already gotten the idea, but he appreciates the thought.

* * *

Pidgeotto leads them to the mouth of Mt. Moon, where a man in a lab coat is being assaulted by Zubat, hunched over as he shouts. Ash is almost surprised they hadn't heard him to begin with.

"Butterfree, use Sleep Powder !" Ash shouts, though gives Butterfree a sort of look - they didn't want to put the man to sleep as well, but it wouldn't be too much of a bother if they did. He'd sleep much shorter than the Zubats after all, being much larger. Pikachu grumbles, presumably because he could've helped, too. Ash just doesn't trust Pikachu's control enough to let him.

The Butterfly Pokemon flutters over the swarm, a a sort of Powder falls from his wings. A sort of shield forms over the Scientist - it looks like it's made of confusion, though it was only good at deflecting the powder. Sort of like Safeguard, he's pretty sure - huh, maybe he should teach that to his Pokemon at some point.

As the Zubat slowly fall, Ash sees Brock grabbing out a Pokeball. Ash briefly considers catching a Zubat as well, but decides against it. He doesn't really want a Zubat, and besides, he was only allowed six pokemon at a time. Unlike Gary, who Ash has heard catches Pokemon like mad, Ash would rather only catch Pokemon he wants, so he doesn't have to spread his attention out too far.

"Are you okay ?" Ash asks the scientist, concerned. He doesn't think the Zubat did much, though - generally they didn't do much to humans, unlike Spearow, who were much more aggressive.

"Thank you so much !" The scientist cries. Ash lets out a loud yelp as the man jumps to his feet and embraces Ash tightly. Ash finds he does not appreciate this show of gratitude

* * *

"It's bright as noon in here. The Pokemon here can't handle the bright very well, that's why the Zubat got confused." Having escaped from the man's hug, only but use of Froakie's Frubbles, Ash and Brock trot alongside Seymour, who was explaining what was happening.

"Couldn't you have just taken down the lights ?" Ash asks. Seymour stops dead, then considers.

"Well, probably not ... Whoever's after the Moonstone would probably put them right back up." The Scientist sighs. Ash huffs, but nods. He supposes it was true, in the end.

"Clefairy !" A Pokemon chimes behind them. Ash turns, eyes widening as he spins around. A Clefairy bounds behind him, a Moonstone held in it's arms. Ash briefly wonders why it isn't evolving ?

"Found you !" Something cries, interupting Ash's thoughts. A Meowth dashes out, intercepting the pink creature. He almost recognizes it from the Pokemon center, but a few weeks ago - it's not like he could forget, after all. It involved a talking pokemon and two weirdos. Ash gives a look to Froakie, who nods in turn and throws a handful of Frubbles. Not exactly what he was asking for, but Ash isn't going to complain. It kept Meowth from doing anything. Meowth whirls, alarmed when he found he couldn't move his feet. "Wh-What are you guys doing here ?" He snaps, struggling.

Pikachu hops over to Clefairy and begins to speak to it. Froakie's attention seems split between the interaction and Meowth.

"Prepare for trouble !" Ash groans.

"Make it double !"

"To protect the world from devastation !"

"To unite all people within our nation !"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love !"

"To extend our reach to the stars above !"

"Jessie !"

"James !"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light !"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight !"

"Meowth, that's right !"

"... Are you going to do that every time ?" Ash asks, reluctant. He's only seen the trio but twice, but he finds that he really doesn't feel like hearing it every time. Did they expect for him to wait for them to finish ?

"You're just jealous !""Because we won't let you join us."

"... Not that I'd want to." Ash answers, flatly. Team Rocket seemed like a bunch of cowards, to be honest. Not to mention stealing Pokemon ? He couldn't imagine what trainers were going through.

"So you're the ones who put up the lights ! You're why the Pokemon are so confused !" Brock is the first to sound, anger sounding in his voice.

"What a shame." The Rockets say, clearly sarcastic.

"We want the moonstone to power up our Pokemon !" Meowth spoils the plan, clearly confident. Ash frowns.

"...That's not how it works." Ash answers simply. The Moonstone was really only good for Evolution, and Ash is certain that they only have Koffing and Ekans. Who don't evolve with the moonstone.

"Shut it !" Jessie snarls. Froakie just throws another few Frubbles out, locking them to the ground. Ash notes that Meowth hasn't found his way out.

"Sleep Powder !" Ash calls to Butterfree as he releases him. The Butterfly Pokemon seems to agree, breezily fluttering over the Rockets and offering a heavy dose of Powder. "...That's going to knock 'em out for a while." Ash grins crookedly. Sleep Powder was rarely dangerous, even in high dosages. With Meowth and the Rockets stuck to the ground, Ash moves to more important things.

* * *

The moonstone ceremony is ... Oddly pleasant. Ash even let out his Pokemon to watch as the Clefairy sing and dance. It all went without a hitch. In fact, the Rockets were stuck to the ground fairly tight, and probably still asleep.

A Clefairy bounds over to him, Moonstone in hand. Ash blinks as it places the Moonstone in his hands, as the boy turns over and inspects it.

"You want me to have this ?" Ash asks, surprised. Clefairy nods, though seems to consider something. Then, out of the blue, the Clefairy grabs one of the empty pokeballs off of Ash's belt. He yelps, alarmed, as it presses the button itself. It rocks a few times, then falls still, and Ash is left staring at the ball, puzzled as he picks it up.

"Normally I'd say you're not allowed to catch the Clefairy, but I don't think you had a choice there." Seymour voices, seeming almost amused. Ash simply nods, confused. So he'd just had a super rare Pokemon catch itself. He's really not sure how he's supposed to respond.

* * *

"So you make your own Pokemon Food ?" Ash asks, curious as he flips through a book. Behind him, his Pokemon are training. Froakie is teaching Pikachu Double Team, Butterfree is further working on Energy Ball, Pidgeotto is working on Agility, and Clefairy is simply working on perfecting her moves. Out of all of them, Clefairy knows the most moves, but only four of them were actually harmful - Copycat and Metrenome didn't count, as far as Ash is concerned.

"Sure do !" Brock answers. Ash beams and kicks his legs. He's supposed to be reading up on Pokemon from other regions right now, but he's sure nobody would mind if he did this instead.

"Do you think I could help ? I know how to make it, but it's not perfect." Ash explains. Someday, Brock will leave Ash on his journey, and Ash simply wanted to be prepared for then. Not that Ash could even be prepared for feeding himself, but he'd rather his Pokemon get better food.

"Oh ! Sure ! Maybe we can share some tips." Brock answers, rather enthusiastically. Ash isn't sure he himself will have very good tips, but nonetheless.

* * *

"... Well, they don't have challengers today." Ash sighs as he exits the gym. Pikachu is grumbling, now perched on Ash's shoulder, though lightly. Ash has found that Pikachu has just about come to fully trust Ash, enough to follow through with Ash's crazy plans. Ash is almost certain the only reason it's come this far so fast is because Froakie has been talking with the Electric rodent.

"Gym Leaders aren't supposed to turn down challengers." Brock tells Ash with a sigh. Ash nods in agreement. Sure, turning down Challengers right before a Performance was one thing, but after one ? Not as much. There were supposed to be Pokemon specifically for Gym Battles, but ... Ash groans.

"At least we have more time for training ..." Ash grumbles. Maybe just another two days would do it ? He looks over his Pokedex. Okay, so they didn't have Performances in the next week, so they'd have no excuse then. Ash wasn't about to just up and take a Gym Badge without actually earning it, it just felt sort of like ... Cheating, to be honest.

* * *

Ash had a tendancy to start working against his Pokemon's weaknesses before he starts with anything else. Well, that was how it was at the moment - he'd captured most of his Pokemon having fully mastered their typings. Perhaps if he ever got a Pokemon who wasn't, he'd have to work with the Pokemon on their typing first.

For example, the reason Ash was mostly teaching Pikachu evasion moves was because his Evolution line was known for having very low endurance - hence why they worked specifically on that, as well. And once Ash finished up on that, he supposes it wouldn't hurt to teach Pikachu Grass Knot. Iron Tail was good on Rock Types, but Ground Types were what Pikachu was really weak to - it just happened that Rock was what Ground Types were paired with most often. After _that_ however, Ash was planning on teaching Pikachu Feint, and then more Electric Attacks - it was a long-term plan, to be honest, and Ash wasn't sure if they'd even get to it all. But it would be a solid movepool, allowing Pikachu to fight fairly against just about any Pokemon. Pikachu was the only Pokemon Ash had done such thorough research on, though, as Pikachu was near the end of the dodging and endurance stage.

Froakie tended to do things his own style, though, and the rest of his Pokemon didn't have as much of a glaring weakness. Butterfree and Pidgeotto could fly, for one - and Butterfree would also be underestimated, being a Pokemon rarely used in league battles, being rather weak. Pidgeotto was harder to work with - she would learn mostly Flying type moves, making it rather hard to provide full coverage. For this reason, Pidgeotto was the one Ash was going to do more thorough research on in the future. Clefairy, however, Ash had little clue what to do with at the moment - nobody was quite sure all the moves Clefairy could learn, being as rare as they were, but they were fairly extensive, being able to learn moves from amost every type. It'd be useful in later battles - after some training, Ash is fairly certain Clefairy will end up as a to-go Pokemon. With only weaknesses to two of the less common types, and the ability to learn so many moves, well, she'd be very useful in the future.

"Alright ... Froakie, we're going to learn Ice Beam." Ash explains first. The primary reason for this is because of how useful it was against Grass Types. Secondly, it's ability to freeze opponents could come in handy. That was kind of it, if he's honest. "I'm not sure _how_ we're going to do that, but we'll figure it out." He kind of wishes he had an ice-type, if only to explain how ice-type attacks work - or at least had an ice-type around to explain. Ice Types were, well, extremely rare in Kanto - in fact, none of their native Pokemon were Ice Typed, so it was highly unlikely he'd get one.

"Pikachu, now that you've got Double Team mostly down, we'll work on Agility." It was one of the moves Ash had to teach Pikachu before he evolved - if he wanted to evolve, that was. There was a pretty big difference between Raichu and Pikachu, after all - not to mention the changes in behavior that occurred, unlike with some other Pokemon. In other words, it wasn't extremely uncommon for Pikachu to not want to evolve. But, along with Feint and a handful of Electric attacks, Ash had to teach Pikachu some moves before even asking about Pikachu's preferece.

"Butterfree, we'll be learning Protect." He's still not sure how to do that - he's fairly certain that they start it off with making it out of confusion, then edge it away to make it almost type-less - no need to have a Dark Type breaking through the barrier anytime soon. The plan is flawed, though, and Ash knows it. Hence why he needs to look things up in the Pokedex first - no matter how much research Ash has done on Pokemon, he can't memorize _everything_ , after all.

"Pidgeotto, we'll learn Twister !" They'd have to test it out on Clefairy later on - it's not like she'd be affected anyways, and it'd prevent some pretty bad damange to the environment. That wouldn't be for quite a while, though - being able to harness, and control, dragon type energy would take a long time. While the Pidgey line could harness it to some extent, it was hardly enough to do more than a twister. Perhaps if Ash ran out of things to teach her, they could try and teach her more Dragon Type attacks, to hell if the Pokedex said she could learn it or not.

"And Clefairy ... How about we just work on your speed ?" Unlike his other Pokemon, who mostly needed help expanding their movepools, Clefairy was new. Compared to his other Pokemon, she was much weaker, being slower and with much lower endurance. That's fine - in time she'll catch up, then he'll allow her to join in with teaching her some more moves.

"Alright ... Pikachu, Clefairy, I'm pretty sure you both know how to do it." Pikachu already knew the basics to agility, from much earlier on, after Pidgeotto had learned agility herself. Clefairy simply had to run around. As for the rest ... Ash sighs, scrolling through his Pokedex.

"Okay, gather around. Pidgeotto, this is what the Pokedex says ..."

* * *

 **funfact i finished this weeks ago but couldnt upload it bc internet lmao**

 **anyways, im never going to directly ask for reviews, but i love seeing that people are reading and enjoying the fic, or asking questions ! yes, ill be replying to reviews, though only if i feel the need - no need to make the a/n just as long as the story lmao**

 **this chapter is mostly made up of training because i wanted to work up the word count lmao ? without adding a gym battle in there ? oh well ? aka this is like,,,, a lot of filler again,,,, u can(or couldve) ignored the goddamn training**

 **anyways ! ive already decided on literally all the pokemon ash is getting in all the regions um ? but if theres a pokemon u rlly rlly want him to get feel free to tell me ! ill def consider it if its not on the list ;o however, i dont suggest suggesting shinies, as im trying to limit it to one shiny per region(theres only like 3 regions w/o a planned shiny lmao) and even then thats p insane luck considering how rare shinies are ! not to mention im only giving him the ~cool~ shinies how does he manage it lmao**

 **tl;dr : suggest some pokemon if u want but shinies arent as likely to be chosen**

 **beutiful-liar13 : awsome chapter will he still get eevees ?**

 **a : the umbreon espeon duo, correct ? yes, he will ! now that ive reached a conclusion to the charmander thing, ive decided to keep them both ! he should get them in the next few chapters !**

 **ash's pokemon : froakie, pikachu, butterfree, pidgeotto, clefairy**


	5. Kanto 5

**time 4 another gym chapter**

* * *

"I hope that the gym's Pokemon don't have any Dark type attacks ..." Ash mumbles as he watches Froakie shoot an ice beam at Butterfree. The shield was still only made of confusion - absolutely useless against Dark types right now. The Ice Beam was about as weak as it could get right now, too - barely frozen. It shatters as it hits Butterfree's shield.

Behind him, Pikachu dashes to and fro, shielded in white that signifies a quick attack. The rodent had managed to work Agility out, what, twice ? But it was never for long, lasting maybe five seconds before it wears out, and Pikachu is left exhausted. Nonetheless, learning Agility would greatly improve his dodging, and not to mention his general speed and endurance.

Pidgeotto, meanwhile is having ... absolutely no luck. Ash almost wishes he had a Charmander - they were well capable of using dragon-type attacks, despite not being one themselves.

Meanwhile, a Charmander somewhere sneezes.

* * *

"I've come to challenge the gym !" _again._

He already had his Pokemon prepared for a battle, and he'd checked the schedules. There was no way he could be turned down now ! He's already been here twice.

"... Sorry, we're not doing challenges today." Oh god. "Why don't you just take it ?" She says, for the second time. It's clear she doesn't recognize him. Ash bristles, opening his mouth to object sharply, but is interupted.

"Hold it !" Somebody shouts, as a redhead bursts in, shouting at her sisters. Ash blinks for a moment, puzzled by her sudden entrance, then dismisses it. "You shouldn't just be giving out gym badges !" The mystery girl seethes. Ash decides he wouldn't ever like to be on the recieving end of her rage.

"All our Pokemon are tired, what do you expect us to do ?" One of the sisters moaned dramatically. Ash bristles slightly.

"Well, then I'll do it !" The girl practically snarls. She grabs a Pokeball. "But don't expect to get out of this ! I'll be talking to you after this !" Ash considers the fact that there should be gym inspections at least once a month, but doesn't bring this up.

* * *

"Misty calls out Staryu !" Ash had only just learned the red-head's name, from the referee. Ash doesn't really care - at least he'll have properly earned the badge this way.

"Alright, Pidgeotto !" Ash calls out. Misty glances at the Pikachu reluctantly resting on Ash's shoulders, curious. It'd be easier to just sweep the gym with an electric type - Ash just planned on using Pikachu last, though. It made things more fair.

"Staryu, use swift !" Misty calls with a flourish. Pidgeotto dives, wings shining with steel as she climbs back up in the air slightly, breaking a good majority of the star-shaped attack. It appears that her descent was primarily for show.

"Whirlwind !" Ash calls now. As it was, Whirlwind was technically a stronger version of Gust, and it's not like Pidgeotto had a nice number of attacking options. Unlike it's evolution, Starmie, Staryu wasn't a Psychic Type. Perhaps if Staryu had evolved, Pidgeotto could make use of her egg moves, Feint Attack and Pursuit. While she still could, it would be generally unaffective. Ugh.

The attack blows Staryu into the wall, though it recovers swiftly, hopping back to its feet(?) and steadying itself. It seems a little scuffed, though. Well, it's better than nothing.

"Into the water, Staryu !" Misty calls. Ash ... sort of expected this. While Pusuit wasn't nearly as effective on Staryu as it would be as Starmie, it could at least deal some damage.

"Pusuit, now !" Ash calls, hurriedly. Misty's eyes widen, and she opens her mouth to shout something out, but is too late. Head ducked slightly, there's a slight black glow to Pidgeotto's beak as she violently slams into the water-type. Staryu does end up in the water, however, as it's practically punched to the bottom of the pool. There's some sort of sound as a result of the collision, as Ash briefly wonders why Staryu was experiencing so much, well, blunt trauma.

"Water Gun !" Misty calls, as the wounded Pokemon moves to the surface, shooting a spray of water. Pidgeotto is hit, as she struggles to right herself in the air. Ash sighs slightly.

"Steel Wing !" The attack would also have the positive side to it, as it'd brush off a majority of the water on her wings. Not anywhere else though, which was a shame - but it'd at least help. Which is why it isn't a huge bother when Staryu dodges the attack completely, hopping back into the water without command.

"Rapid Spin, Staryu !" Misty calls. As Pidgeotto begins moving upwards, the star-shaped Pokemon shoots out of the water, spinning rapidly, as the name suggests. The attack slams into Pidgeotto, who is sent higher into the air. She only narrowly misses the ceiling.

"Now, Quick Attack !" Ash calls. Pidgeotto steadies herself, and becomes surrounded by white as she charges, slamming into Staryu forcefully. And, once more, Staryu is sent into a wall and faints. Ash briefly wonders what it was with walls.

"Return, Staryu." Misty sighs as she returns the star-shaped Pokemon. "Now, go Starmie !" Ash sighs briefly. Alright, so Staryu and Starmie. Okay.

"Return, Pidgeotto." Ash does the same. While the match would've been better the other way around - Pikachu against Staryu and Pidgeotto against Starmie - he supposes he can't get it right _all_ the time. "Okay, Pikachu !" The rodent perks up dramatically, practically throwing himself off of Ash's shoulder to rest on the floating platform before them. If Ash recalls, outside of training, Pikachu hadn't had any battles in a while.

"Starmie, tackle !" Misty takes the initiative this time, as Starmie spins towards Pikachu, similar to Rapid Spin, but ... Not quite. Pikachu jumps over Starmie with help of his tail - something Ash had thought about while they were learning Iron Tail. It was the first time they'd actually used it in battle, too.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt !" Ash calls. Pikachu obliges, a streak of electricity barreling towards Starmie, who moves out of the way. Ash sighs. "Okay, well ... Quick Attack !" He calls instead. Pikachu hurries on, illuminated by a steak of white as he slams into Starmie. Then, without command, he latches onto the purple Pokemon, lighting up with Thunderbolt. Ash doesn't mind - usually, things like this don't mess up Ash's plans, especially since some of his training revolves around _not_ relying on commands.

"Starmie, Water Gun !" Misty takes Ash's idea of point-blank attacks, as Pikachu is shot across the room and into a wall. Ash groans. Pikachu shakes himself out. "Now, recover !" Misty calls, just as Pikachu is back on the Platform.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt !" Ash calls, almost panicked - Thunderbolt did decent damage, and if they manage to hit while Starmie recovers, then the match should be his. Pikachu reacts a few moments late, however, as the attack only sends out once Starmie's mostly recovered. But ... it's a lot brighter and a whole lot wider than Thunderbolt. So ... Wait was it ?

Ash hurriedly pulls out his Pokedex, and confirms that it was Thunder. Oh.

Starmie faints. Misty sighs as she recalls it, giving Ash a sour look. Well, at least he's _earned_ the badge

* * *

"So ... How did you even learn Thunder ?" Ash asks, puzzled. Pikachu gives Ash a flat look, then shrugs, because how was he supposed to know ? Even if he did, it's not like there was a way to tell Ash.

"Yeah, sorry ..." Ash laughs apologetically. "Well, let's not touch it until we're ready - you probably won't have that much control over it for a long time." Ash admits. The fact that they'd even hit Starmie was pure luck - not to mention, Pikachu would probably struggle to use electricity if the match continued. He'd looked rather drained - so, perhaps they'd have to work on electricity storage after they finish with agility. Hm.

Pikachu lets out an annoyed sound at this. He should be allowed to use his attack ! Sure, it was draining, but he didn't care ! Ash glares.

"After we learn Agility we can teach you how to store more electricity. Then, after we finish with more training we can work specifically on Thunder." Ash attempts to compromise. Pikachu nods sulkily. It wasn't fair, but he had to admit he did learn it kind of early on. Ugh.

* * *

 **yeah pikachu learned thunder because why the hell not. its not like he'll be using it v often, cause its kind of hard to control lmao**

 **i hope the story is at least a bit slower than it was ? im hoping to make this like... 30 chapters or so long b4 we get to the orange islands, because we will even if it takes forever bc boy oh wow do i love procrastinating ?**

 **and im still trying(and failing) to come up w a cool subplot go me...**

 **anyways, misty only showed up briefly, and i wont be adding her into the story,,,, ive still gotta work something out for ash's kalos companions, though. all of ash's companions in the future regions will be the same age as in the anime, but ash will continue aging. i have an issue w ash's kalos companions and ages though. however, i have a few ideas and i have a whole lot of time to work it out, assuming i manage to get there. i almost doubt i will bc ? thats several years of writing my dudes :^) but ill try, maybe ill actually be one of the few fics that actually get past the orange islands(ive only seen like 2 lmao)**

 **anyways i have the old ver. chapters stuck in my doc manager now, so everythings cleaned up !**

 **id also like to point out that yes, ash will be getting legendaries, but only getting a few - he's not going to capture literally all the legendarie my dudes, only ones that i feel he bonded with closely. and maybe some others ; im trying to figure this out w/o making ash too op**

 **ash's pokemon : froakie, pikachu, butterfree, pidgeotto, clefairy**


	6. Kanto 6

**dont u love frequent updates**

* * *

"Why don't we have a map ?" Ash complains as he trudges after Brock, groaning. They're lost, and Brock had apparently thought it was a great idea to go on a 'shortcut'

"I don't know. We'll have to pick one up next chance we get." Brock answers, groaning. Ash had a map when he'd _started_ but it'd disappeared somewhere between Pewter and now. Ugh. Maybe he should see about getting a map installed into the Pokedex or something.

"Let's just ... take a break." Ash sighs. Brock agrees without complaint, and he plops onto some rocks with a sigh. Only Pikachu was out of his Pokeball right now, and even then only because of his dislike for Pokeballs. It was hot, and they were exhausted from all the walking.

Behind them, an Oddish drinks from a pool. Ash ignores it.

"Aren't you going to catch it ?" Brock asks. Ash shakes his head.

"I'm not all that interested in the Oddish line." Ash answers instead, shrugging. It's true - Ash doesn't see himself using it, which is almost, well, unfair.

* * *

Water roars and thunders far below them as Ash crosses the bridge carelessly. He'd glimpsed a Bulbasaur earlier, and Ash is tempted to see if it has a trainer. Likely not - this is rather far from civilization, after all.

"I can't find this bridge on my map." Brock notes. Ash is just about to whirl around a demand an explanation as to _where did you get it and why didn't you use it_ , when he hears something. The rope is unraveling, as the bridge becomes more unsteady. Ash yelps and grabs onto the railing, just as it turns over. Brock isn't nearly as lucky, hands scrabbling to keep a hold on the wood. Ultimately, this fails, as he slips and falls.

"Brock !" Ash cries, distressed. He hangs there for a few seconds, horrified.

"Pika-Pika !" Pikachu prompts, nosing Ash, who takes a breath and nods, doing his best to pull himself to the end of the bridge.

* * *

"Another trap ?" Ash sighs, struggling. Just a little earlier he'd fallen down a pitfall, and had only gotten down with help from Froakie. Beside him, Pikachu grumbles, and yanks a Pokeball from Ash's belt. Pikachu could probably use Iron Tail, but he wouldn't have enough force to break through the net. Well, maybe he could, but not without most likely seriously injuring Ash. And he didn't dare to admit it, but Pikachu was quite fond of the dummy.

Ash sighs and takes the Pokeball from Pikachu's ... paws, hands ? Well, he takes it and holds it outside of the net as he presses the button. Pidgeotto forms, and seems alarmed upon seeing the situation.

A vine lashes out and smacks Pidgeotto to the ground. Below them, Bulbasaur is back, grumbling irritably. Pidgeotto lets out an angry cry, rising back to the air as she flaps her wings forcefully. Bulbasaur skids slightly, then another vine lashes out. Pidgeotto dodges to the side, then takes the opportunity to use Steel wing, slashing through the net. Ash crashes to the ground gracelessly.

But, when Ash looks back, Bulbasaur is nowhere to be seen.

* * *

"Right, so no capturing Pokemon." Ash promises easily. He'd run into a girl named Melanie just earlier - apparently she'd rescued Brock, who was out looking for him right now. Apparently she ran like ... a Pokemon health spa or something, for injured Pokemon.

"And - Bulbasaur, he's the protector the village, right ?" Ash inquires, curious. Melanie had mentioned the grass type once or twice, but he wanted to be sure.

"Yes. But ... He's been here too long. He needs to see the world." Melanie sighs miserably. Ash nods in understanding, almost feeling tempted to offer himself up, but ... it just doesn't feel right. "If you can convince him to, maybe you could take him ?" Melanie offers instead, and Ash blinks, alarmed.

"But -" Ash tries. As much as he wanted a Bulbasaur, it didn't feel right.

"The village doesn't need a protecter anymore. And ... Bulbasaur's flower needs to grow." Melanie says, softly. Ash goes quiet. Maybe ... he could try, maybe. Besides, none of the Pokemon here were particularly rare, they might be okay.

"I'll ... I'll try." Ash says, quietly. He's almost touched, how Melanie sees him fit to train Bulbasaur. But ... It's probably based more on the fact that he's a trainer who's Pokemon seem to genuinely like him, more than anything. Ash can accept that.

* * *

Froakie and Bulbasaur are talking to one another, somewhere to the side. The Pokemon had turned up at some point, trying to get Ash to leave the village until Froakie pulled it aside. Ash admits, he's truly grateful for Froakie's help.

Something shadows them. Ash looks up, confused, as he sees a giant ... blimp ... thing. Okay, Team Rocket. Ugh.

"Here we go again ..." Ash grumbles. Brock charges into the village as well, and is about to say something, but sees Team Rocket and quiets. There's something Ash doesn't have to deal with, at least.

"Today at Jessie's stadium, the Rocket Pokemon challenge !" Jessie says, in an odd voice.

"The flying stadium was my idea !" James complains. Jessie just laughs shamelessly.

Suddenly, a hose emerges from the, uh, flying stadium. More accurately, perhaps, it was a vacuum. Ash can feel his balance beind set off as he digs his heels in to stay steady.

"Pidgeotto, whirlwind !" Ash cries. Hopefully it'd almost-neutralize the winds and allow for them to get away. And, thankfully, it works, even as Pidgeotto struggles. The colliding wings swirl around each other, emerging from constant sources.

The most odd things about it, however, has to be that it becomes strong enough to lift the three rocket members and their stadium, spinning and whirling. Perhaps it was a better outcome than neutralizing the winds, huh ?

* * *

"You know, some of the village Pokemon look up to you now." Melanie points out. Ash blinks.

"Huh ? What do you mean ?" He asks, puzzled. Melanie grins.

"Bulbasaur likes you. And ... there's also a Magikarp, here. It's also almost recovered, but I can't bring it anywhere." Oh. How did Magikarp get to the village in the first place ? Either way, Ash is a little overwhelmed.

"So ... You want me to take it ?" Bulbasaur Ash was prepared for, but a Magikarp ? Melanie frowns.

"Magikarp evolves into a powerful Gyarados if you raise it right." She chastices. Ash puts his hands up in surrender.

"No, no it's not that Magikarp is weak, I'm just ... surprised." Ash answers. Melanie relaxes.

"Of course. Bulbasaur wants a battle first, though, and ... Please be gentle with Magikarp for a while. It's almost recovered, but ... Not quite." Melanie requests. Ash just nods dumbly.

* * *

"Are you ready ?" Ash asks Bulbasaur, who nods. Magikarp already has a place on his belt, and he'd sent Pidgeotto back to the ranch for a little while. Pidgeotto was still training, of course - she'd continue working hard on Twister, Ash had already explained it very thoroughly to her. Ash just hopes she doesn't train too hard - the ranch should also be a place to rest, not just train.

Ash begins reaching for a Pokeball, but stops when Froakie interupts, taking his place on the battlefield. Ash blinks, then grins.

"Well, if you say so." Ash agrees. Certainly, Froakie was weak to Grass Types, so Ash was placing a lot of trust in him, especially with how weak Ice Beam was at the moment.

A tendril of vine slams forwards. Froakie dodges easily, hopping over it, then forming a sphere of blue - Water Pulse, to be specific. Ash remains quiet for the moment.

The attack, predictably, doesn't harm Bulbasaur all that much, as Bulbasaur charges forwards. The attack hits Froakie, who staggers, then uses Ice Beam. Bulbasaur cries out and staggers, then growls and wraps Froakie in his vines.

"Froakie, Ice Beam !" Ash calls now, alarmed. Of course, this doesn't stop Bulbasaur, who only stops momentarily as he squeezes Froakie. Then, suddenly, Froakie lights up. Ash falters, alarmed. Was Froakie ... evolving ? He suppposes he should've expected it - this was around the time that starter pokemon evolved. In fact, it was a bit late, if you take the pre-journey months into account. Perhaps he was just waiting for a good opportunity to evolve ? After all, Pokemon wanted to make their evolutions special, and therefore typically do so during challenging matches.

Frogadier breaks from Bulbasaur's grasp, arm glowing white. Aerial Ace ? Ash blinks in surprise, but grins. It should make the match much easier, at least.

"Quick Attack !" Ash calls. Frogadier takes a second to steady himself on the ground, then charges, slamming into Bulbasaur forcefully, then slamming it with another Aerial Ace. And then ... Ash hurriedly pulls out a Pokeball, tossing it at Bulbasaur. The Pokeball rocks once, twice, then a third time. It dings. Ash lets out a cheer as he grins, scooping up the pokeball and moving to congragulate Frogadier enthusiastically.

* * *

As it happens, the training after a new team member joins tends to be more intense than usual. It wasn't of Ash's own doing, but his Pokemon simply ... wanted to impress the newbies, he supposed.

Today, they were training next to a river, for Magikarp's sake. They'd have to do a lot of training if they wanted Magikarp to evolve, after all. Plus, it gave Frogadier some time in the water - unfortunately, this was something they'd been neglecting, due to the lack of Pokemon Centers. Water types needed time in the water, after all.

"Alright ... Butterfree, how's your Protect ?" Ash asks. Butterfree duly puts up a Protect, which Ash prods at. Okay, so it was mostly normal typed now, but it was still weak, and Butterfree had enhanced it with Psychic. It was fairly good, in other words, but they still needed to toughen it up. "Okay ... Next time you get the chance, train with Pidgeotto. For now, train with Frogadier." Ash offers. Pidgeotto was the only one who knew Dark Type moves, so she'd certainly be a help. But for now, Frogadier needed to get used to his new size and shape, as well as continue working with his moves - Ice Beam was doing fairly well now, and Aerial Ace was powerful, but they didn't have much practice with it.

"Pikachu, same as usual." Ash was still doing research on how Pikachu stored electricity, so while Pikachu was almost done with Agility, Ash just needed more time.

"Hm ... Clefairy, how about we start learning minimize ?" Ash asks. Clefairy perks up excitedly. Today was the first day they actually started learning moves - after all, Clefairy had a ... ridiculously wide moveset as it was, so they'd spent more time than necessary on the early stages of training. And if she hadn't known so many moves, maybe they wouldn't learned different moves first. Minimize took ... a lot of time to learn, for hopefully obvious reasons.

"Bulbasaur ... How about we work on upping your speed ?" Bulbasaur had chlorophyll as an ability, but to be honest, they shouldn't rely on it. And if Bulbasaur should decide to evolve, then, well, they'd definitely need some help.

"And Magikarp, just swim against the river current !" This particular river was, well, loud and fast. There was just a little spot here that remained just about completely still, which was where both Magikarp and Frogadier rested at the moment. Swimming against the current, however, should prove to be beneficial, being help in speed, endurance, and willpower. Should be fun.

* * *

"So the map isn't helping ?" Ash asks with a sigh as he looks around with his binoculars. There's nothing but Spearows, and to be honest, he's entirely unimpressed. Brock shrugs.

"Hm ... Well, this trail leads to route 24, which leads to Vermillion city." Brock notes. Ash slumps in relief. Just a little bit longer, then they'd finally be there. Plus, his pokemon really needed a visit to the Pokemon Center. They weren't injured, they were just really weary. In fact, only Pikachu stayed out most of the time. It must be really tiring.

And yet, as Ash continues, something blots out the sun. The boy falters upon feeling the slight chill of shade, looking up in confusion. Atop the rock lays a Charmander, watching them warily. Ash blinks in confusion. Charmander weren't native to this area - hell, the only place they were really native to were really hot places, not like this where it rains.

"Is that a Charmander ?" Brock asks behind him, puzzled. Ash nods, considering.

"But ... Charmander aren't supposed to be around here, and it looks like it's in bad shape." Ash notes, motioning to it's tail. The flame was small and weak, and Ash can't help but frown. "Does it have a trainer ?" He wonders. It was really irresponsible to leave a Pokemon alone, especially in such a bad shape. Brock shrugs.

"Why don't you catch it ?" Brock suggests. Ash shakes his head.

"First ... Pikachu, can you go talk to it ?" Maybe it had a reason for being up there. Pikachu nods, climbing up the rock easily. Ash waits patiently, hearing them chatter. He hopes that he can get the story through charades.

"Does it have a trainer ?" Ash asks as Pikachu turns back up. Pikachu nods. "Is Charmaner waiting for him ?" Ash asks, once more. Pikachu nods again, so Ash sighs. "Well, best to leave it here ..." Ash decides, a bit reluctantly. He hopes Charmander has a good trainer, especially with the condition he's in.

* * *

"Do you think Charmander's okay ?" Ash asks as he seats himself. There's a sort of ... worry in his chest. What if his trainer left him ? Ash ... almost wants to check - the only cost would be a horrific cold, but at least he'd know it was okay. Brock sighs.

"I don't know." Brock answers. He's about to say something else, but their attention is redirected by a group of trainers, laughing as they look over the trainer's collection of Pokemon. But ... there's something that catches his attention.

"Hey, I thought you had a Charmander too ?" The kid - Damian, Ash thinks they called him - looks bored.

"Yeah, I had one, but it was so weak it couldn't beat the weakest opponents." He sneers. Ash frowns, eyes narrowing slightly.

"... Charmander may be weak to some types, but if they're trainers work with they, they can be strong." Brock sounds annoyed. Ash can't help but agree, but only nodding.

"So, what'd you do with the Charmander ?" Somebody asks. Damian shrugs.

"Eh, I let it on some rock in the woods." Ash freezes. On a rock ? In the woods ? Was ... Was it the same Charmander they met ? He swallows hard. "That thing is so stupid ! No matter what I do, it keeps on following me ! So I told it I'd come back for it. It fell for it, it's probably still there !"

Ash realizes something. It's ... raining. Charmander is probably sitting on that rock in the rain. Was it okay ? Ash bristles, though stops as Brock gets up.

"Brock, what are you doing ?" Ash asks, with a note of panic in his voice. They shouldn't be starting fights. So, Ash hurries to his feet and shakes his head. "The least we can do is get Charmander out of the rain." Ash tells him. Brock stops, then sighs and nods.

"Pikachu ... Stay here. You'll just make things worse if you come." It was raining, after all. Pikachu glares at him, but ultimately goes along with it, seating himself on the table.

* * *

It's cold and wet, but Ash can see the light of Charmander's tail in the distance. Spearow are shrieking as well, so Ash hurriedly pulls out Butterfree's Pokeball. Out of all of them, he would probably be the best at chasing them away.

As they draw near, Ash skids to a halt, pressing the button. Butterfree takes form, and with a quick glance at Ash, forces the Spearow apart with an understandably clumsy confusion - typically, confusion was used on only one target. The Spearow flee, despite their type advantage, yet Ash leaves Butterfree out for the moment.

"I'll make sure the tail flame stays lit." Ash volunteers, yanking his jacket off. Brock doesn't respond, instead focusing on getting back to the Pokemon Center as fast as possible. Yet, no matter how fast it is, it almost feels like it took too long as they skid into the Pokemon center. Ash almost wishes that he'd taught Butterfree Sunny Day, now.

"Please, help Charmander !" Ash gasps, as Brock holds the weak fire-type in his arms. Nurse Joy gasps upon seeing it's condition, and Ash just wishes he'd known about Charmander earlier

* * *

"It's very weak ... How could you let it get into this condition ?" Joy demands accusingly. Ash shakes his head.

"It's not my Charmander. Damian abandoned it ..." Ash trails off. Nurse Joy seems alarmed.

"What ?" She sounds shocked.

"Well ... Damian promised he'd come back for it, and it believed him." Ash doesn't know the whole story, but ... It was enough.

"Poor Charmander ... Damian and the others just left." Nurse Joy sighs. Ash looks down in distress.

* * *

Ash ended up employing almost all of his Pokemon on hand to keep watch on Charmander, with the exception of Pikachu. If Charmander was loyal enough to stay on a rock in the rain, maybe he'd end up going back. And Ash ... Ash wasn't going to take that chance.

As it happens, this was a great idea. According to them, Charmander attempted to leave numerous times, and it showed by the mess the room was in - Frubbles were scatted near the exits, as with stub spore and sleep powder. Clefairy's throat was hoarse, too - she'd sung for most of the night after Charmander first awoke, but the rest of them still set something up in case Clefairy got too tired, hence the frubbles and powders.

Nurse Joy wasn't happy about the mess, but ... she accepted it fairly easy. Whatever it took to keep Charmander with them, and she did what she could to ease Clefairy's sore throat and exhaustion. Perhaps he'd let her skip out on training tonight.

"Y'know ... Damian wasn't a great person." Ash says from his place beside Charmander's bed. Said Charmander remains there almost solely due to the frubbles Frogadier planted there, and he does feel a bit bad - Charmander wasn't here by choice, after all. Charmander gives him an inquisitive look. "He was talking about his Pokemon like they were just ... tools for war." Ash isn't sure why he's telling this to Charmander, but ... he needs to tell somebody. "Did he ever try to train you ?" Ash asks curiously. Charmander is silent.

* * *

"Char ! Charmander !" A cry interupts them, as Ash and Brock are leaving. They'd spent two days with the fire-type, two days of explaining to Charmander why the way he was treated was wrong, why Damian didn't care. They'd only left once it'd gotten through, and even then Ash himself only left at Brock's insistence, but ...

Charmander is rushing over, crying out continuously. Ash blinks and turns, puzzled, as it draws near.

"Charmander, what are you doing here ?" Ash inquires, confused. It continues to shout, but Pikachu comes to a conclusion when Pikachu pulls another Pokeball out of his bag. Oh. "Do you really want to join me ?" Ash asks, just to be sure. Charmander nods adamantly, and Ash grins as he holds out the Pokeball, to which Charmander presses the button itself. And - oh. The capture went by within seconds, Ash sort of grins at the Pokeball in his hands, feeling almost excited. Oh - but he had to send Butterfree over to the professor, first. They'd already discussed what his Pokemon would do if he sent them to the ranch - certainly not just lay around, but he hopes they're not training too hard.

* * *

Ash trots along the path, a grin on his face. He already has, what, eight Pokemon ? He hadn't even gotten his third gym badge. But, there was also the chance, small as it was, that he wouldn't capture any other Pokemon. That would be fine, albeit a little bit disappointing - eight Pokemon was enough to work with, and training was easier.

His foot catches on something. Ash yelps and stumbles, crashing to the ground. The ground behind him collapses as he sits up. Brock is shouting, and so is Pikachu. Frogadier had avoided it somehow, and none of his other Pokemon were out at the moment, so ...

"Who put a pitfall there ?" Brock demands. Ash frowns as he peers down the hole. In the distance, he hears distressed cries of squirtle. Were they the ones who put down the trap ? Huh.

"Hey, that couldn've been dangerous !" Ash calls out to the bushes where the squirtle lie. He doesn't understand why they did it, but ... He sighs, instead moving towards the pitfall to help pull Brock and Pikachu out.

* * *

Ash groans as he rests against the rock. He'd been here for, what, a day ? Minus an hour or two, though - he'd had to get a super potion for Pikachu, and while they were definitely untired, they weren't allowed to leave. Ash was positively _bored._ I mean, sure, he'd been kidnapped by a bunch of Squirtles and Meowth, but they were just sitting around.

On a cliffside, something explodes. Ash whirls, shocked, as black smoke rises from it. What ... ?

"To protect the world from devasation !" Oh. That's what.

"To unite all people within our nation !"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love !"

"To extend our reach to the stars above !"

"Jessie"

"James"

"Squirtle Squad, it's time to pay for insulting Team Rocket."

"Bombs away !"

Ash jumps back to his feet, shocked, as two more bombs fall. _Bombs ?_ He'd thought Team Rocket was relatively harmless, but ... Wow.

Meowth begins to carry Pikachu up the ladder as Jessie calls for it. Ash reach's for Pidgeotto's Pokeball, but - ooh, she was at Professor's lab, and so was everybody else who could help him. Ugh.

Instead, he opts to start running to the cave, trailing behind his friends. A squirtle is shouting, though, and Ash whirls around to see a Squirtle - the leader, he thinks, stuck on its back. Ash rushes over, turning the Squirtle back on its feet and rushes back towards the cave, even as the other bombs start to drop. Luckily, they arrive safely, but ... Hm. They need to stop Team Rocket from getting away with Pikachu.

/

A fire rages before them. Ash glares at it, even while holding Pikachu in his arms. Squirtle had blasted a hole in Team Rocket's balloon, but now they need to deal with the fire ... Ash reaches towards Frogadier's pokeball, then stops. Frogadier wasn't equipped to deal with fires - unlike the squirtles, he didn't know Water Gun, and Bubble wasn't consistent enough to help much.

"If it keeps going, the Town could go up in smoke !" Jenny cries. Ash just grins at her crookedly at her.

"I've got an idea. Squirtles, if you work together with your Water Guns you can put out the fire." If things got too bad, Frogadier could certainly do something.

* * *

The fire had been put out fairly quickly, and the Squirtles had been given an award. And they were officially the town's firefighters. Ash was at least glad they could be putting their efforts into something useful.

"Squirtle !" But ... If all was well and done, why was that Squirtle following them ? Ash turns, seeing the blue water-type running after them in a way reminiscent of Charmander, just days earlier. So, Ash turns and instead asks what he's pretty sure Squirtle is asking, because his luck is insane.

"Would you like to come along with us ?" Ash grins. Squirtle perks up notably, taking off it's glasses. Maybe Ash is a little surprised, as Squirtle dashes the rest of the way to them. But, hey, he's got another friend, and all of the Kanto starters now. And he should probably ask Professor Oak to let him keep certain Pokemon on him temporarily, at least until they've trained enough with him. But that's something for another day, when they reach Vermillion City, perhaps.

* * *

 **last chapter i forgot to replace my temporary separaters w the breakers lmao ? i had to edit it a lot, though - little things in the a/n, and i added the breakers**

 **and, in an attempt to slow the story, im apparently doing one per chapter ? i didnt mean to make it that way it just,,,, happened.**

 **anyways charmander's thing is almost exactly the same until a certain point lmao**

 **on hand : frogadier, pikachu, clefairy, magikarp, bulbasaur, charmander, squirtle**

 **at the lab : butterfree, pidgeotto**


	7. Kanto 7

**mmm daily updates r exhausting but its not like i have anything 2 do all day**

* * *

"Alright ! So, Frogadier, Pikachu, you'll both be learning Protect." It was the last move that he had to teach Pikachu until they started on Grass Knot among other moves. Pikachu lets out a loud, confused complaint. "You've been working on your electricity all day, don't think I haven't noticed." Ash huffs. "Besides, I've called over Butterfree to help." Ash adds. Pikachu settles a bit, but still seems highly annoyed.

"Let's see ... Clefairy, you're done with Wake-up Slap ?" Ash asks. He's not surprised - the average amount of time for wake-up slap was three days, which it had been. "Okay, well this move will take a while. We'll be learning Minimize, alright ?" Clefairy groans, but nods nonetheless. It was ... fine, she supposes.

"Bulbasaur, just ... either run or work on endurance. Or both. Maybe practice some moves while you're at it." 'Working on endurance' entailed headbutting trees. Fun.

"Magikarp, same as usual." It's not like they could do much until Magikarp evolved, which ... would hopefully be soon. Some blue-ish scales were already growing in, so maybe just another week ? Hm.

"Charmander, work on your moveset." It was a fairly wide moveset, all in all, hence why they had to work on that first thing - not as long as Clefairy did, but nonetheless.

"And Squirtle, just join Bulbasaur." Squirtle had low stamina, as he had seen just hours ago, so there was something that needed to be done first thing. A shame that most of them would just be working on speed, because it was getting ... rather boring. Ugh.

* * *

Charmander pulls on Ash's pant leg. Ash blinks, looking up to where Charmander was pointing - I mean, anything would help.

"Oh, a Lighthouse ! Great find, Charmander !" Ash grins. Charmander, Clefairy, and Pikachu are the only non-water types out at the moment - Frogadier and Squirtle are out in the water. Ash isn't sure why - both of them thrive in fresh water, so he doesn't see the point in them going into the ocean. Oh well.

"C'mon." Ash turns to Brock as he hurries towards the lighthouse. Hopefully the Keeper knew the way to Vermillion.

* * *

"So the Kabuto was just a costume ?" Ash asks, feeling maybe a little disappointed. But he supposes he shouldn't be - Kabuto, from what he read, were supposedly around the size of his shoe, according to studies on all current fossils. Bill nods.

Ash feels ... kind of awkward, at the moment. Brock is in the kitchen, making what he's pretty sure are cheeseburgers, and he's left here with Bill. Not that Bill was _bad_ \- maybe just a bit misinformed. He didn't recognize Frogadier, but he definitely knew a lot about Kanto pokemon, he could give him that.

Ash is about to speak when a flash of silver crosses his eyes. Ash blinks and looks over, puzzled, as he sees a pair of Eevees. Eevees ... they were usually brown, weren't they ? One of them had a shining coat of silver. A shiny ?

"Are the Eevees yours ?" Ash asked, curious. He wouldn't be surprised if they were - Eevees were rare Pokemon, and with a shiny ? Well, absolutely anybody would welcome a shiny, and if Bill was a collector of rare Pokemon ...

"Bloody hell, no." Bill sounds annoyed. Ash looks up at him, puzzled. "Shinies are rare, but not worth the trouble these battle-loving things give me. And I can't get rid of 'em !" Ash is a bit more confused.

"Couldn't you just ask somebody to take them ? It shouldn't be that hard." Ash replies. With all of Eevee's evolutions, just about anyone would take them. Even some type-specific trainers. Bill frowns.

"I don't leave the lighthouse very often enough, and I don't trust the league to rehome them." Bill answers with a sigh. Ash nods. Fair enough - Pokemon ended up in the wrong hands far too often.

"... Maybe I could take them ?" Ash asks, a bit uncertainly. Bill considers this.

"Perhaps if they like you." Bill agrees. Ash nods, a grin forming on his face. Pikachu squeaks, scrambling up to Ash's shoulder before his trainer leaves to seek out the Eevees.

Of course, it's not that hard - the shiny sticks out like a sore thumb, despite the non-shiny's attempt to make it less obvious. But, upon seeing Ash's approach, the silver-coated Eevee takes a protective stance in front of the much more timid brown one. Pikachu squeaks a few times, and the Eevees relax, but only a bit.

"Hi there ! I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu !" He greets, holding out a hand. The shiny's nose twitches as it sniffs his hand, then appears to deem him safe. Ash has to admit, he finds it odd that it's the shiny that is so much more protective. Some trainers would go through a lot of trouble just to get one, but ... they seem rather interested in him. Maybe it was something about him being a Pokemon trainer ? Bill did mention 'battle-loving'...

The sudden appearance of a Charmander startles Eevee, who scrambles back a few steps, then fluffs up defiantly. Charmander seems almost hurt, until the non-shiny moves to greet it. Ash wonders where Frogadier and his other Pokemon went, since he'd let them out. Maybe he was interrogating Bill or something. Ash snorts at the thought.

He hopes he and the Eevees can be good friends, at least.

* * *

"Eevee !" The little brown fox squeaks, chasing after Clefairy. Ash grins. Currently, everyone is playing tag - Frogadier showed up mid-way, and Bill confirmed that Frogadier _had_ been interrogating him, it just took a long time because of the language barrier.

He feels a paw on his leg. Ash looks down, alarmed only to see the shiny Eevee pressing a paw to Ash's pant leg. So he was being invited to play ? Well, he's not sure if it's fair - not that it was in the first place, but everyone was fair when it came to the slower Pokemon in the group - they'd slow down when chasing, or when they were being chased. And Ash ... was a great deal larger than the Pokemon here but ... he'd do his best.

The boy beams now, and moves into the game. And, like the rest of his Pokemon, he tried to regulate his speed to make things fair - an _un_ fair game of tag was no fun, after all.

* * *

"You're sure you want to ?" Ash asks. The shiny Eevee lets out an annoyed squeak, and Ash smiles apologetically. He just wanted to make sure they knew what they were getting into - he'd already told them, after all, and they seemed aware that there was no way they could win a battle against any of his Pokemon. Well, except for maybe Bulbasaur or Squirtle, and that was mostly a matter of speed.

"I'll let you out in a little while, okay ?" He tells them as he offers a pair of Pokeballs. They move at once, not wanting to be left behind. It rocks thrice, then dings, as excepted. Ash grins. He has some more teammates ! And his first Shiny, but that almost feels less important than the fact that he had new friends.

* * *

The waves crash against the cliffside, as the lights above them spin in circles. In Ash's arms rest a pair of Eevees, listening to Bill's rant alongside them.

"It's the biggest Pokemon we've ever seen, bigger than all the rest ! And no one has ever seen it." Bill tells them, subdued excitement in his voice. Ash can't help but feel excited as well. "It's been wandering the world for years and years, looking for friends."

"But ... Doesn't it have anybody ?" Ash asks. Surely it had some friends or family ? Or ... did it have something to do with it's massive size ?

"The Pokemon wanders because it's alone. It's the only one of it's species, one of it's kind." Or perhaps it was just rare ? He doesn't think there's any Pokemon who's the only one - he doesn't think even legendaries are the only ones, perhaps with the exception of Arceus himself. "I woke up one night, and I heard a very strange sound." Bill admits softly. As Bill attempts to 'translate' - judging by reaction, it was either incorrect or saddening.

"Not long ago, I recorded a similar sound and relayed it from the lighthouse." Bill continues, unconcerned. "One day, I heard the same voice coming back to me from over the ocean. It was answering me back. One day, that Pokemon may come and meet a friend it's been seeking for a very long time." Bill breaks into a grin, different from his serious voice moments earlier. "I would be so happy to meet that Pokemon.

An echoing cry breaks the conversation. Loud and continuous. Ash refocuses his attention into the distance, surprised. Was ... Was that the Pokemon ? From the distance, a silhouette appears, taking the shape of a Dragonite. Ash's eyes widen. Dragonite weren't typically _that_ large.

"It's here ! The signal !" Bill speaks, pressing a button on a remote. A similar cry echoes back - Ash is pretty sure the color of the lights changed, too, but he's not really paying attention. And ... he has to admit, it is a rather nice song.

* * *

They have to leave the next day. Ash can't help be disappointed - he'd almost wanted to stay for longer with the Dragonite, but as Brock pointed out, they had to get to Vermillion city. He'd already promised to call Bill occasionally, though. This being said, however, Ash was going to put some focus into Pikachu's training. They'd be facing the Vermillion gym leader in a few days, and some research informed him that he used a Raichu, and Pikachu had claimed it as his battle for unknown reasons.

"Alright, so we're going to work on mostly your speed, okay ?" Ash tells Pikachu. He's working side-by-side with the rodent, and the others are doing the same things as yesterday - with the exception of the Eevees, who joined in Bulbasaur and Squirtle's training. Pikachu squeaks, puzzled. He was clearly expecting something more, well, intense. Ash can't blame him. "Apparently, Lt. Surge evolved his Raichu as soon as he got it, so it never got the chance to learn Agility." Saying 'speed attacks' would be inaccurate - contrary to popular belief, Raichu could learn Quick Attack despite evolving. Pikachu huffs.

"So, we'll be taking advantage of your speed and ability - Lightning Rod should be able to take care of the Electric Attacks, which, by the way, will probably be tons stronger than yours, and overuse of Quick Attack and Agility should take care of the rest." The real issue was actually damaging Raichu. Electric Attacks wouldn't do much, but Pikachu only knew about three non-electric attacks, and they'd have to take Raichu out before it exhausted Pikachu first ... Ugh. He just hopes that his plans won't be blasted out when the gym battle actually starts.

* * *

 **:^) i really need a hobby... im not even going to school atm... all i do is write and read fanfics all day oh god**

 **anyways this is only 2k words because i needed to stop it b4 the gym chapter ? hhhh**

 **also yea ive been ripping the dialogue almost exactly for a lot of this chapter i just ?**

 **also should ash catch a fossil pokemon, and if so, which one ?**

 **on hand : frogadier, pikachu, bulbasaur, charmander, squirtle, eevee(s), eevee**

 **at the lab : butterfree, pidgeotto, clefairy**


	8. Kanto 8

**gym chapter yay**

* * *

"You think we're ready for this, bud ?" Ash asks Pikachu that morning. They could always train more, after all - gym leaders were no joke, even with a Raichu that evolved way too soon. I mean, they'd even seen young trainers bringing their Pokemon to the ER after battling the gym. Pikachu bristles at the implications, shouting a few 'Pikas' at him. Ash holds his hands up in surreunder. "I just wanted to make sure." He tells the rodent with a laugh.

Pikachu turns his back on Ash with another 'Pika.' Ash sighs.

"Well, at least we have everything planned." Ash muses. At least, he thinks it is - if Raichu is too much stronger than Pikachu, than his Lightning Rod might get overwhelmed ... Ash just hopes that this isn't the case, at least.

* * *

The door opens. Two people rest there - a man and a woman, both dressed to intimidate. As in, they looked like thugs or something. Gah.

"I'm here to challenge the gym." Ash tells them, not bothering with a real greeting. The man looks back.

"Hey, boss. Another victim for the Emergency Room." Ash bristles now himself. Were they doing it on purpose ? What if somebody's Pokemon got permanantly injured ? A large intimidating man appears - much taller than even Brock. But ... Ash at least knew that the trainer's appearance didn't reflect on the Pokemon's strength. Much.

"Which one ?" The man that Ash assumes is Lt. Surge speaks. Ash doesn't bother falling for the intimidation act - well, perhaps it wasn't an act, but Ash wasn't going to bother.

Ignoring Brock's cry of 'woah, he's huge !', Ash speaks up. "I am."

"Oh, you ?" Lt. Surge sounds only slightly surprised, placing a hand on Ash's head. "Okay, baby." Okay, so that's resorting to insulting. Pikachu's cheeks spark from his place on Ash's shoulder. Ash, on the other hand, just pushes Lt. Surge's hand off, bristling. Lt. Surge seems unbothered.

"Oh, a Pikachu !" Before Ash can tell them his name, Lt. Surge refocuses on the sparking Pikachu. "Look at that ! Baby brought along a baby Pokemon." Ash rolls his eyes.

"That would only be correct if I'd brought along a Pichu." Ash tells them flatly. It's not going to stop Surge from taunting him - in fact, it might make it worse because he seems a lot more like a 'nerd' now. Lt. Surge sneers.

"Well, at least I've got a _real_ Pokemon." Lt. Surge apparently doesn't have a comeback, and instead calls out a Raichu. Neither Pikachu nor Ash are surprised. "Okay, baby, if you want to quit, now's the chance." Lt. Surge offers. At least they were offered the chance ... ? Not that Ash was going to take it. in the least.

"We're not going to quit now." Ash tells him simply. Pikachu continues to glare.

"Y'know, if you want to become a Pokemon Master, you gotta make your Pokemon evolve as soon as possible." Lt Surge tells them, kneeling to pat Raichu's head.

"There's more to raising Pokemon than forcing it to evolve." Ash just growls. If Pokemon evolved too soon, than they would never reach their full capabilities - that Raichu would never be able to be as fast as it could be, and it'd never be as strong, either.

"Wrong, baby. Electric Pokemon are only good once they've learned all of their attacks." Lt. Surge responds. Ash growls. Out of anybody else, he would've thought that Lt. Surge would know how to raise an Electric Type, but apparently he was wrong. "Keep your Pikachu puny like that and it's nothing more than a little pet." Pikachu' sparking returns. Ash doesn't bother with an answer.

"We came here to earn a Thunderbadge." Ash growls. "But I guess we'll just have to show you you're wrong, too." Okay, well that didn't sound as cool as he expected it to, but that's fine.

* * *

"The battle will now begin." The announcer calls over the intercom.

On the battlefield, both Pokemon stand, prepared for battle.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt !" Ash calls. He's not sure how well Raichu can take Electric Attacks, but it doesn't hurt to try. Raichu grimaces, but doesn't stop.

"Alright, show 'em a _real_ Thunderbolt !" Lt. Surge calls. Ash narrows his eyes as Raichu sparks. A bolt of electricity shoots towards Pikachu, who doesn't react. If anything, he only perks up further. Lt. Surge frowns

"Lightning Rod ?" He actually sounds surprised. Ash doesn't grace him with a response - in fact, maybe they could use Thunder now ... They'd gotten a power-boost, and Raichu certainly didn't seem to have Lightning Rod himself.

"Thunder !" Ash calls. Pikachu nods, taking but two moments to pour all his electricity into the attack - even if it missed, it certainly wouldn't effect their performance too badly.

The attack causes Raichu to cry out as it, almost surprisingly, hits him. Even Lt. Surge seems almost surprised - Ash isn't sure if it's because Pikachu actually knows Thunder, or because it actually hurt Raichu.

"Body-Slam, Raichu !" Lt. Surge calls. Raichu shakes itself out, then charges at the Pikachu. Ash frowns.

"Quick Attack !" Ash calls. Ash doesn't care if it's used to dodge or at Raichu, if he's honest. Pikachu seems to go the offensive route, charging at Raichu and knocking it's weight out from under it, then continuing forwards as Raichu slams into the ground. Lt Surge grimaces.

"Mega Kick !" Lt Surge calls once Raichu has recovered. Raichu, for one, manages to send Pikachu flying across the room and into the wall. Ash's eyes widen briefly, but Pikachu manages to recover fairly quickly - he seems rather bruised, but otherwise okay.

"Swift !" Ash calls. And sure, Swift wasn't a particularly powerul move, but it wouldn't miss, and could be done from a distance. Raichu attempts to break it apart with a Thundershock, but a few still hit it.

"Take Down, Raichu !" Lt. Surge calls. The large orange mouse charges at Pikachu, but Pikachu dives at Raichu's chest, shoving it to the ground. Then, Pikachu pours in a Thunderbolt while he's at it - it's a lot weaker than it could've been, thanks to their earlier Thunder.

Lt. Surge growls. "Body Slam !" he calls as soon as Pikachu is off. Ash, seeing no opening for Pikachu to dodge, almost panics.

"Endure !" Ash calls, mostly as a precaution. Pikachu cries out as the attack hits, glowing a faint white, signifying that the endure was successful.

As Raichu bounces back to its feet, Pikachu shakes itself out and glares intensely. The mouse glares and jumps into the air, tail glowing silver as he slams it into Raichu. Ash thinks he sees it sparkling with Electricity. Raichu cries out as it falls to the ground. Pikachu growls, a red glow surrounds it as it charges back towards Raichu and slams into it. Raichu lets out a cry as it struggles for a few moments, then ... faints. Ash grins.

* * *

"Good job Ash, Pikachu." Lt Surge tells them as he shakes Ash's hand. Ash is beaming with pride all the while. "Here's proof of your victory ! The Thunderbadge." Lt. Surge presses it into Ash's hands. Ash grins and thanks the gym leader enthusiastically.

"Oh ! And take this too, in case you ever want to evolve your Pikachu." Lt. Surge adds, adding a Thunder Stone into the mix. Ash blinks in surprise. A Thunder Stone ? He glances at Pikachu, who seems alarmed, and maybe a bit bothered. Hm, he'd have to ask Pikachu about his preferences on evolution, later. And maybe the Eevees too, actually. Hm. Maybe he should bring up the idea of evolution in general.

* * *

 **yay for 1.5k words...**

 **anyways. so today, id like to point out theres pokemon i wasnt/wont be adding into the story. its all a matter of what pokemon ash will actually** _ **use**_ **because there were so many pokemon in the anime ash just abandoned at the ranch as soon as he caught them. and sure, i wasn't going to add krabby or muk into the story, but i agreed without considering, but if anything im a person of my word, so ill have to work something out regarding them, and among the other pokemon i was planning on leaving out(corphish, torkoal, and palpitoad.) it'll be a lot easier for me after johto though lmao. its p easy to guess what it is, because its in literally every single 'stronger ash' story, im just adding it in, well, a lot later than most stories due to the fact that i dont want him to be op what the hell**

 **ok ok rant end. sorry abt that, its just that ive already put a lot of thought into ash's pokemon. probably. maybe. i didnt until i actually started the story. tbh the idea that i thoroughly thought this story out is a lie ; it doesnt stick out at all, and i still really need to add some extra plots into this. because, ill be the first(not lmao) to admit that im awful at coming up at my own ideas.**

 **anyways now ive gotta go edit last chapter ? gotta add krabby in my dudes,,,,,,,**

 **on hand : frogadier, pikachu, magikarp, bulbasaur, charmander, squirtle, krabby, eevee, eevee**

 **at the lab : butterfree, pidgeotto, clefairy**


	9. Kanto 9

**have fun with a _slightly_ darker chapter than usual**

* * *

"Why did you turn down the tickets ?" Brock grumbles miserably. Ash sighs and gives Brock and unimpressed look.

"In case you didn't notice, that was Team Rocket." Ash tells him flatly. He's not sure how Brock didn't notice - the disguises were fairly okay, but ... _._ Brock seems alarmed.

"Wha - really ?" Brock asks, clearly shocked, but not quite disbelieving.

"... Jessie's hair." Ash tells him. Considering how obvious her hair was, he observed how similar they were to Team Rocket.

"Oh." Brock doesn't seem to know how to respond.

* * *

"Did you hear ?" Brock asks, a day or two later.

"Hear what ?" Ash answers, puzzled.

"About the St. Anne. Apparently it was raided by Team Rocket, and everyone's Pokemon were stolen." Brock replies. Ash slumps a bit. He's ... Not too surprised. Jessie and James were trying to give them tickets just the other day, after all. "... A lot of people died." Brock finishes.

Ash looks down.

He's not sure how to feel, but ... he's glad that he didn't go on the boat.

* * *

It's later that day when something rams into Ash's ankle while he's on the beach. Ash yelps and jumps, then looks down. There, on the sand, rests a strange Pokemon - which was bizarre, because there were only a few regions that Ash hadn't fully researched. It ... looks kind of like a sea lion. In it's flippers rests an egg, large and brown - had it carried it here ? From where ? But ... it looks wet. So it'd swam here ? Ash touches a hand to the egg, and recoils in shock. It's just about ice cold.

He's about to scoop up the egg when the Pokemon sings. Ash halts. It sounds ... rather haunting. Perish Song ? Perish Song. Ash stiffens, because at the moment, Pikachu and Frogadier are both out of their Pokeballs. He was going to have Frogadier take the Pokemon, but instead recalls him. It's not really worth it, but he'd have to hurry, for Pikachu's sake. So, instead, he scoops both the Pokemon and egg up, ignoring it's flailing. What they needed was the Pokemon center, no matter if he got smacked in the process

* * *

Popplio. That was it's name, apparently - it was one of the Alola region's starters, too. So ... Why was it all the way out here ? Ash frowns, when he hears the nurse calling for him. He shuts the Pokedex and hurries to the front. Pikachu hops to his shoulder from the counter

"How are they ?" He asks, not about Pikachu and Frogadier, but Popplio and the egg. Nures Joy smiles, though it looks to be a bit saddened.

"They're all fine. Popplio and the egg both just need to stay here for a little while." Nurse Joy responds. Ash nods, even as he takes Frogadier's Pokeball from the table.

"So, do you know who their trainer is ?" He asks - he does want to get both of them home, first thing. Nurse Joy stops smiling.

"I'm assuming you heard about the St. Anne ?" She asks. Ash nods mutely. "It's trainer was on board. She was among those who died." Ash goes silent. So their trainer was ... dead ? He looks down. "They'll need a new trainer now, though. Popplio was clearly raised entirely by humans, and the egg would need a caretaker - it wouldn't be able to survive in the wild at such a young age. And, since you were the one who found them, perhaps you would like to ?"

"What about her family ?" Ash asks, because what if the family of the former trainer wanted them back ? Nurse Joy shakes her head.

"Most of them are dead, and those that are alive don't want them." She responds. Ash considers.

Right, so ... Judging by Popplio's reaction earlier, he'd have to work it through whatever trauma it experienced on the St. Anne. The egg would be ... a bit more complicated. There was a lot that could happen - once it hatched, it might remember what happened, but it also might not. Or ... maybe it'd remember snippets. It'd be a lot to work through, but ... they at least needed somebody.

"I'll do it." Ash answers softly. Nurse Joy smiles, appearing somewhat relieved.

"If I could have one of your Pokeballs ? I'll need to transfer the data to it." She requests. Ash nods mutely, sorting through his backpack. A regular Pokeball didn't feel right, so maybe ... He pulls out a luxury ball and holds it out for Nurse Joy to take. She seems briefly surprised - Luxury balls were expensive, after all. But she takes it nonetheless. "Just wait here, I'll give you the egg in a little while." She informs him. Ash nods as he seats himself, watching Nurse Joy vanish into the back. He suppose he'll wait here, then.

* * *

"An incubator ?" Brock asks, surprised. Ash nods, holding the egg close to him.

"Well, since you want to be a Pokemon breeder, I thought you'd have one." Ash answers, kicking his legs. He could probably go out and buy one, but they were, well, really expensive - it'd actually probably take most of his money to afford it.

"Well, I do, but where'd you get the egg ?" Brock replies, sifting through his backpack until he found what he needed. Brock grins triumphantly, and presses a few buttons on the cube - specially made to store items. How else would Brock fit everything in there ? Anyways, he pressed a few buttons on the cube until an incubator appears. Ash thanks his friend as he places it delicately in the incubator. At least he wouldn't have to worry about it getting cold, anymore.

"I found a Popplio on the beach, and it was holding the egg." Ash explains. "Apparently its trainer died on the St. Anne." The boy goes quiet. He doesn't like talking about death - knowing how much potential was squashed flat, just like that. Brock doesn't reply. "... I agreed to take care of them both. I know it's going to be really hard if they both remember, but ..." He agreed, and now he'd have to do his best to care for a most likely traumatized Pokemon, but he wasn't going to give up on them, at least. But he had to do some research on the Popplio line, at least.

* * *

"Are we ready ?" Ash asks, holding the Luxury ball in his hands. Upon gaining general agreement, Ash takes a deep breath. He hopes the egg in his arms will keep it from attacking - and though Popplio was far from an aggressive species, after what it'd probably seen, well ...

Ash presses the button.

The blue sea-lion-like pokemon forms and looks around. It seems slightly distressed, and it focuses on Ash warily, but doesn't attack. Ash wonders if Nurse Joy told Popplio about anything.

"Hi there." Ash says softly, holding out a hand. "I'm Ash Ketchum, I'm going to be your trainer. I hope we can be friends." It's similar to the greeting he used with the Eevees, and if he remembers, that worked out fairly well - of course, the Eevees weren't involved in a mass murder that their trainer was caught in. Popplio stares at Ash's hand. Behind him, a majority of his Pokemon chime in a few words. Popplio considers, then places a single flipper in the boy's hand. Ash beams. Okay, success ! Now he just needed to get to know Popplio, and make it comfortable.

* * *

Ash finds it kind of odd how his Pokedex has started giving him info without being asked. Of course, he doesn't _mind_ \- he has to admit, the information is all useful, it's just sort of ... odd. Popplio won't even get near it, which is a bit of a problem, because he still has to do a lot of research on Popplio as a species.

Did you hear about Porta Vista ? Chimes Dexter

"Huh ?" Ash looks down at the red device in his hands. "Um. No." He'd kind of prefer being told by Brock than his literal Pokedex.

A massive Tentacruel destroyed the city after some humans destroyed their home to build a hotel.

Well that wasn't horrifying or anything. And why was everything happening _now_ ? It's like all of a sudden the St. Annie is destroyed, then Porta Vista. It's kind of brutal, to be honest. And why the city ? Why not just the people building the hotel ?

"Oh." Ash answers in a small voice. Everyone sure did want to tell him about mass destruction and death these past few days, huh ?

* * *

"Are we fine with visiting Lavender town before going to Celadon ?" Ash asks. Brock looks up.

"I guess. It's kind of on the way there, anyways." Brock answers, though his heart doesn't seem in it. Ash can't blame him. Lavender Town was well known for the ghosts more than anything

"Just for a night. I want to catch a Ghost Pokemon before I face Sabrina." Which was going to be quite a while, but nonetheless - it got them more training, which they'd definitely need if they wanted to battle Sabrina. He'd heard a lot of things about her, and to be honest, he's not too eager to battle her.

The only Ghost Pokemon that frequent the Pokemon Tower are the Duskull, Gastly and Litwick lines. Dexter chimes in helpfully.

"So pretty barren compared to some other places, huh ?" Ash answers breezily, ignoring his companions' reactions. "Maybe I'll look into catching a Gastly or Duskull or something." There were other Ghost types Ash wanted as well, but none were actually at the Pokemon Tower. A shame, too, but understandable. "Should we go now ?" Ash asks, curious. Brock just nods.

* * *

"Huh ? Misty ?" Ash speaks up, surprised. He'd battled her in Cerulean, right ? She ... looked really beat up, too. He didn't know her very well, but it was concerned.

"Oh, you're Ash, right ?" The red-head seems a bit surprised herself. "I battled you in Cerulean." He nods.

"What happened to you ?" Ash frowns.

"Oh ... I was in Porta Vista during the incident." Misty sighs. Ash nods and looks down. It must've been awful.

"You actually survived that ?" Brocks asks. Misty nods glumly.

"I tried to help, but it didn't work. The only good thing that came out of it was the Horsea I captured." Misty answers. Ash hopes this doesn't get too glum, so he decides to change the topic.

"Why don't we go eat ? We can talk there !" Ash offers. Maybe he could get some help with Popplio ? If she was so great with water Pokemon, it might make a difference.

* * *

"Oh, so a Popplio's a water type from Alola ?" Misty clarifies. She didn't know what it was, but she seemed willing to help.

"Yeah. Apparently she was involved with the St. Anne." Ash replies, nodding. Misty hums.

"Well, I'm not sure I'd be any good, but I'd still like to meet her !" Misty seems rather enthusiastic. Ash is disappointed that she couldn't help, but he supposes it was understandable. She seems to have only been a trainer for a year or less - definitely not long enough to understand be good with what Popplio was dealing with.

"That's fine." Ash grins and reaches for Popplio's luxury ball. The sea lion forms on the table and looks around somewhat warily.

"Oh, so that's a Popplio ? It's really cute !" Misty grins. It occurs to Ash that Misty was really aggressive unless it involved water type Pokemon, which would explain her change in demeaner once the conversation started.

"Yeah, she is." Ash grins, rubbing the top of the water type's head. Popplio seems to realize what was happening, and lifts her nose into the air. Ash blinks in confusion, then realizes that perhaps she was maybe a water bubble. She hadn't done it since he got her, but perhaps that was because she didn't have a reason to. This was proven as a balloon of water forms from the little sea lion's nose. Ash grins wider. Well, he supposes something came out of this, at least.

* * *

"So you're going to the Pokemon Tower tonight ?" Misty asks, frowning. Ash nods. "Well, you're a moron for wanting to go at night, alone. but I won't stop you." She responds, shaking her head. Ash huffs.

"It's the only good time to find Ghost Pokemon, though !" He whines. Misty shrugs.

"Don't come whining to us if you turn into a vegetable or something." Misty jokes. Ash sticks out his tongue. Sure, they'd only been actually talking for about a day, but he already felt moderately comfortable with her. Sure, she was kind of hot-headed and aggressive, but it wasn't unbearably so.

"I'm not sure I could talk, though." Ash shrugs. Misty snorts.

"Well, if you say so." She huffs, defeated. Ash grins even wider.

* * *

 **aaaahhh this is only 2.5k words,,,,, i give up,,,,,,**

 **yes i did add misty into the story, but its kind of late :p she'll p stick around for a bit longer though, probably till the end of johto lmao**

 **right ! so theres a lot of divergence from canon this chapter. the pokemon towers a little bit different, and just abt everyone involving the st. annie or porta vista are fuckin dead my dude. the only survivors we know of now are popplio, the egg, and misty. misty's hotheadedness is going to be a little subdued in this story, though, and im going to blame it on the tentacruel lmao. anyways, no other non-native pokemon should show up until the orange islands, and after that, none at all. well, probably, because the idea for popplio came out of nowhere and it might happen again :p**

 **i was split between using rowlet and popplio, though, but i decided against rowlet because how would rowlet fly that far... they dont seem like fantastic fliers in the anime tbh they wouldnt be able to fly that far...**

 **spoiler alert : the egg is a rockruff :^)**

 **anyways my writing style is so not suited for whatever the hell i wrote this chapter**

 **and yes ? im joining the bandwagon w porygon dexter in the future... of course, hes not going to be a porygon for quite a while but ? hhh**

 **anyways, i ended up skipping over the 'bye bye butterfree' episode completely ? they arent in the right area, and i just,,,,,, i was going to give brock the pink butterfree but then i jsut**

 **Ash's pokemon : frogadier, pikachu, butterfree, pidgeotto, clefairy, magikarp, bulbasaur, charmander, squirtle, krabby, eevee(s), eevee, popplio. egg.**


	10. Kanto 10

**:^)**

* * *

"So why are you in Lavender Town, anyways ?" Ash asks, maybe an hour or so until he leaves to the Pokemon Tower.

"I'm here to recover." Misty states simply. "They didn't think I'd get any better, so they decided Lavender Town was best." Ash looks down. That wasn't ... Well, he supposed it made sense. Lavender Town was more of a graveyard than a town. If there was somebody with such a low recovery chance, then he supposes ... he supposes it makes sense.

"It's only been a few weeks, though." If she was so unlikely to survive, then why was she able to walk ? Misty just shrugs softly.

"I got better really fast. The doctors were really confused." Misty hums. Ash just nods softly. He doesn't have an answer. He's not sure he wants to.

* * *

Their plans for pokemon-catching were postponed, as it turned out, when the egg started to hatch. Apparently, it was closer to hatching than they'd anticipated. But he supposed he wouldn't complain. The egg sits on his lap, now, as it wiggles and glows. Then, as the glow dies down, he finds himself looking into into the face of an enthusiastic puppy. Let's see ... a Rockruff, he thinks it was called ? He's kind of glad he started his research on Alolan Pokemon, even if it took a few hours.

Rockruff curls up in Ash's lap and yawns. Ash doesn't question it - after eggs hatched, the Pokemon tended to be tired out. And, let's see, so young Pokemon couldn't battle for a few months without risk of injury ... so Rockruff may be a bit of hindrance regarding training, but he wouldn't fault it just for that.

"S'pose we have to wait a little while before going to the Pokemon Tower." He tells his gathered Pokemon with a grin, to mixed responses - some were rather glad about that, but others were a bit disappointed. No matter how many teammates they had, it was always nice to get a new one. Though ... they did technically get a new one today, just not one who could battle yet. Hm.

* * *

"All ready ?" Ash asks, just to be sure. The ones he was asking, in particular, were Rockruff and the shiny Eevee. Pikachu had refused to come, but Eevee had been rather adamant about coming along. And Rockruff ... Ash tried to get him to stay behind with Brock, but he'd put up a big fight until Ash reluctantly let him along. Ash supposes Rockruff could be useful, being Ash's only Pokemon who knew Odor Sleuth - Ash had already asked the canine to use Odor Sleuth if he could ever tell where some ghosts were, just to make his job easier.

Receiving an affirmative, Ash pushes through the Pokemon tower's doors. As expected, it was dark, and felt rather eerie, was the best way to put it. It's a livingroom, he thinks, and ... it's awfully dark. Ash frowns.

"I wonder if there's a candle anywhere ..." Ash mumbles, glancing around. Eevee seems slightly alarmed, as though this wasn't what she expected, then promptly lit up. Ash stops, confused, and turns, only to see Eevee lit up with evolution. Ah, that's right, she'd wanted to evolve into Umbreon, hadn't she ... ? He still feels, well, shocked, as a blue-ringed Dark type takes the place of the silver Eevee. He hadn't thought they were close enough for that, despite the efforts he'd made.

However, these thoughts are interupted as the newly turned Umbreon's rings light up, shining the room in blue light. Ash thanks her as he looks around, humming softly. Rockruff wasn't really doing anything, but the puppy continued to sniff the air. Ash is fairly certain that there's no ghost types here yet, then. Like Growlithe, no matter how young the Pokemon were, they could scent everything. So, he moves on. Room to room, walking quietly. It's not until he gets to the kitchen that Rockruff does anything, wriggling from Ash's arms and onto the floor, dashing off.

"Rockruff !" Ash yelps, because what if something happened to him ? He was too young to properly defend himself yet ! Ash takes off after the young Rock type, with Umbreon in pursuit. Frogadier goes on ahead, likely to just make sure that Rockruff didn't get himself hurt.

There's a yip in the next room, and Ash scrambles to a halt. There Rockruff stands, barking at a Haunter that floats there. Ash falters, then grins, all while scooping Rockruff back into his arms. Okay, who to send out ? Umbreon was already here, so maybe ... ? Haunter turns to flee, and begins to, but Umbreon dashes forwards and slams into it, forcing it back. Umbreon glances at Ash, who nods and scrambles for Charmander's Pokeball.

As the fire type forms, he takes a look at the situation and seems to panic slightly - ghost types seemed awfully intimidating, but calmed down upon recieving a meaningful look from Umbreon.

"Crunch !" Ash calls out to the Fire type, who hesitates then charges, clamping his jaws into the Haunter quickly. It cries out, then slips away. Haunter's eyes then glow purple, a mist settling around Charmander. Was that ... Mean Look ? Ash breaths a sigh as Haunter proceeds to use Hypnosis, and Charmander falls asleep. He's about to call out to Charmander when a black aura escapes from Haunter and surrounds Charmander. That was ... Nightmare, wasn't it ? It wasn't a frequently used move, so it was a bit harder to recognize, but ... Charmander begins shaking in his slumber and struggling. Ash winces, and can't help but feel almost bad for sending out Charmander at this point.

"Charmander !" Ash calls, concerned and almost hoping he could help break Charmander out of it - Nightmare didn't cause Pokemon to faint usually, but they'd be weakened. Umbreon is distracted keeping Haunter in one place. Maybe if he just called Clefairy out, it'd be less damaging ...

Charmander lights up.

Ash focuses on the Charmander who appeared to be evolving and swallowed hard. Okay, so Magikarp evolved just yesterday, Umbreon just a few minutes ago, and now Charmander right now. He just watches as Charmander grows and changes shape, enveloped in the white light.

Then, it's Charmeleon, instead, fully awake with his tail lashing. Ash grins, just a little.

"Flamethrower !" He calls, and finds himself completely ignored as, instead, Charmeleon charges forwards and uses Metal Claw. Ash frowns, annoyed. "Shadow Claw !" Ash calls, because hey, maybe it was a fluke. As it turns out, it wasn't, as Charmeleon instead just uses Brick Break, which completely fails. Ash groans as Charmeleon is blasted into the wall. The fire type is about to get back up and battle, but Umbreon shoves him out of the way, instead firing off a Shadow Ball. It works, as Haunter faints. And, with a Pokeball, it dings. Ash is eager, but more eager to have a talking to with Charmeleon.

* * *

It's after another training session that Charmeleon completely ignores that Ash actually talks to Charmeleon. Eevee rests beside him, fully prepared for a battle. He wouldn't be surprised if it did - it was either a respect thing or a strength thing, and those kind of came hand in hand. He wasn't going to use any Pokemon that had come before Charmeleon, hence why he'd chosen Eevee, who'd joined his team maybe a week after Charmeleon.

"Listen, you can't just keep doing this." Ash tells Charmeleon, who growls. Ash narrows his eyes. "You aren't going to get any stronger if you don't train. What's even the problem ?" Before Charmeleon evolved, just a few hours ago, Charmander had been slightly naive, and listened to each command. Charmeleon just continues growling.

"Look, if you want some proof that training helps, how about a battle with Eevee and I ?" Ash asks with a sigh. Charmeleon considers this, then nods, standing. Okay, good. He wouldn't get any better if he skipped out on training.

Charmeleon starts out with a Flamethrower, which Eevee dodges easily. From the side, he sees Umbreon gathering to watch, among a few other of his Pokemon, including Rockruff, who took a place by Ash's feet to watch in curiousity.

"Eevee, use Swift !" Ash calls. She obliges, forming masses of stars of which Charmeleon only dodges by putting up a hasty Protect - which was, to note, not Charmeleon's greatest move. The stars break through the shield after a few moments (Ash reminds himself to work on that once Charmeleon rejoins training sessions) as Charmeleon is sent stumbling, covering his face with his arms.

"Now, Quick Attack !" Ash calls before Charmeleon can recover. Eevee charges forwards and slams into Charmeleon, knocking him to the floor with her standing atop his belly. Charmeleon lets out a strange squawk and rakes the fox with a quick slash of the claws. Eevee yelps and draws back, shaking her fur out, then quikly scurrying to the side as Charmeleon sends out another Flamethrower, though a hind leg and her tail were caught. She grumbles and uses Refresh to heal the burn, then uses Shadow Ball. Charmeleon growls further and charges forwards, clamping his jaws onto Eevee's leg. Eevee yelps and forms another Shadow Ball and slams it into Charmeleon, who was sent flying, then promptly faints. Ash sighs, and is about to go and help the lizard when Eevee lights up. Was she evolving too ? He wouldn't be too surprised, not after Umbreon last night.

This was proven as Eevee changes shape within the light, and finally breaks free as an Espeon. Ash grins wide, and joins his Pokemon to congragulate the newly evolved Espeon enthusiastically.

* * *

"Your rivals have already earned five badges. You better hurry if you want to catch up." Professor Oak tells Ash casually the next morning. Ash just shrugs.

"There's still most of a year to get some badges. It doesn't hurt to slow down and train." Ash tells him with a grin. Sure, it might be just a little annoying that Gary had two more badges than he did, but Ash is confident he could win a battle with Gary if he wanted. Especially now that Charmeleon was listening to commands and rejoining their training sessions.

"Oh, and Professor, I forgot to ask last time I called, what can you tell me about caring for a Popplio and Rockruff ?" No matter how much research Ash did, he couldn't get the answers he needed. He assumes it's because Alola hasn't set up a league yet - that's fine, but it makes caring for Alolan Pokemon a lot harder.

"I can tell you lots, but, uh, why ?"

"Well, I started training a Popplio a while ago - her trainer was involved in the St. Annie. She also brought along a Rockruff egg, which hatched a few days ago." Ash replies with a shrug. Behind him, he hears the cries of some of his Pokemon. Was Haunter pranking them again ? Well, he wouldn't be surprised.

"Oh, well I suppose I can give you plenty of information. Hold on, let me contact my cousin ..." Ash hadn't been aware that Professor Oak had a cousin, but he supposes if he got some info ...

* * *

As it turns out, Professor Oak's cousin looked almost exactly like him, just ... darker-skinned and with a different hair style. It was weird, but Ash got all of the information necessary to care for them.

As he returns to the site where he and Brock were camping out, he found a surprising site. Misty, who he had last seen in Lavender Town, was chatting with Brock and petting Rockruff absently.

"Hi, Misty !" Ash chirps, plopping onto a rock nearby. "I thought you were still recovering ?" He inquires, feeling a bit concerned. He didn't want her to strain anything ...

"I was given the to-go, so I decided to find you both. Because, y'know, you left me behind." Misty shrugs almost nocholantly, but Ash realizes that she's actually kind of annoying. He winced.

"Didn't think you'd be coming along, especially since so much walking is, well, straining." He tells her simply, and is about to continue when he finds himself with an armful of Rockruff. He grins in amusement, seeing Misty distract herself with Popplio.

"So, what water type Pokemon do you have ?" Misty asks.

"I, obviously, have none." Brock offers humorously. Misty rolls her eyes.

"Well, uh, you can probably see them all, but I have Frogadier, Gyarados, Squirtle and Popplio." Wow, he had ... A lot of Water Types. And just one less Flying type than that. Huh.

"Yeah, I suppose." Misty grins. "I'm surprised you have a Gyarados already, though." Ash nods in agreement.

"Wha - hey, that's ours!" Brock shouts in the background. Ash turns, confused, only to see a Mankey with one of their riceballs. Well, okay then.

"Uh ..." Ash frowns. Umbreon grumbles and charges at the Mankey. Ash frowns. He's not sure what she's doing, but ... Oh, nevermind, there was no purpose . Ugh. Mankey jumps off the rock, tail lashing in anger.

"Great going, Umbreon." Ash tells the blue-ringed fox sarcastically. Umbreon sticks her tongue out.

I don't think you'll be able to calm it very easily.  Dexter chimes in. Ash jumps several feet in the air. Once Mankey goes into Thrash, it's very hard to stop

"Ugh, you haven't done that in a while ..." Ash grumbles, even as Mankey charges at them. Gyarados slams her tail into it helpfully. All it succeeds in doing is making Mankey angrier, and it now charges at Ash, who yelps and ducks. I mean, he doesn't end up beaten, but he ends up hat-less.

"Wha - hey ! Give that back !" Ash feels ... very annoyed. He'd spent a lot of time trying to get that hat ! Even if it was, well, ages ago, he was rather fond of it. Espeon groans and swipes the hat from Mankey herself, using confusion. "...Thanks Espeon." Ash sighs as he takes the hat from the air. Mankey screeches more loudly, and - lights up. Oh god, that makes about five evolutions this week.

As it turns out, however, the evolution didn't do much. As soon as the newly evolved Primeape is prepared - it was simply unfair to attack a newly evolved Pokemon before it was, Espeon just. Slams it into the ground. Repeatedly. Ash frowns in confusion. Alright, so that also wasn't fair, so he's not sure why she waited, but, well ...

A Pokeball exits from his backpack.

"Uh, so what's with you guys always throwing the Pokeballs for me ?" Ash asks as it hits Primeape. A few of his Pokemon laugh, and, well, Ash just sighs. Maybe they get a kick out of it or something.

The Pokeball dings, and Espeon shoves it back into his hand. Ash rolls his eyes and takes it, shoving it into his pocket. He ... Really needed to find a more secure place to put his extra Pokeballs.

"... That was very underwhelming." He sighs.

"Your Pokemon are weird, Ash." Misty informs him. Ash snorts and shrugs. He couldn't deny it, but he supposes it comes with giving his Pokemon as much free reign as they do. He's not going to change that either, though - they're more of friends then beneath him or whatever, unlike a lot of people.

* * *

"Are you alright ?" Brock asks. Behind Ash, Misty is panting for breath. Traveling was probably putting a lot of strain on her, Ash notes worriedly, but doesn't point this out.

"I'm _fine."_ Misty growls. "Let's just go, I need some rest." This sentence wouldn't make sense it they weren't already just barely outside of Celadon city.

 _I feel like you'll get lost if I just leave you be. If you look, I've pulled up a map leading to the Pokemon Center._ Dexter informs them blandly. Ash isn't sure if he should be offended or not - was his literal Pokedex implying that he couldn't find his way to the Pokemon Center ? Then he groans. He probably couldn't.

"Y'know what, everything about you is weird, Ash." Misty decides. Ash looks back, puzzled. Where did that come from ? Was it because of Dexter ? Well, probably. So he sighs.

"Let's just gooo." He whines to his companions impatiently, shrugging. His Pokemon probably needed a visit to the Nurse, and he knew he really needed a bed. The gym battle could definitely wait until tomorrow - judging by the perfume he can smell from even the edges of town, it'll be really overwhelming there. So he ... probably needed to prepare himself.

* * *

 **a lot of pokemon evolved this chapter lmao ? lets see thats 4, or 5 if you count primeape**

 **to the lovely guest who reviewed yesterday : whos to say some rockets didnt die ? and actually, at least a few dozen out of, what, 130 trainers ? made it out alive. and sure, ash may be the chosen one, but bad things happen all the time - arceus himself wouldnt hail from the heavens to force ash to save some 80 people when theres several billion people currently alive, and hey, maybe porta vista got whats coming to them. all ash knew was that team rocket was coming up with some dumb ploy to take his pokemon, and he decided to stay out of it.**

 **anyways rockruff wasnt going to hatch this chapter but then i was like 'whatever' because who am i kidding,,,, anyways, the haunter here isnt the exact same haunter as in the anime.**

 **on hand : frogadier, pikachu, gyarados, krabby, charmeleon, umbreon, espeon, popplio, rockruff, haunter, primeape.**

 **at the lab : butterfree, pidgeotto, clefairy, bulbasaur, squirtle,**


	11. Kanto 11

**I FORGOT TO ADD THE LINE BREAKS TO THIS CHAPTER...**

* * *

"So, who are you using in the gym match ?" The inquiry comes suddenly, and Ash considers it with a hum.

"Well ... Let's see. I was thinking Clefairy, Charmeleon, and Bulbasaur." Ash answers. Clefairy had been his third capture, and yet she hadn't had a gym battle yet. Charmeleon had a type advantage, and Bulbasaur was actually for basically no reason. Though, he did have to get all of them but Charmeleon back from Professor Oak. Whoops.

Mist nods. He only have one fire type, but Clefairy was fairly good at using Fire Type attacks. And most of his other pokemon were water and flying types, so she couldn't really complain. Well, she could say that he'd be better off using Pidgeotto or Butterfree, but she decided to spare him for now.

* * *

"Actually, I'm here for a gym battle." Ash sighs. He was never really that fond of perfumes, no matter how much his friends are fawning over them. He was actually kind of overwhelmed, but he wasn't about to admit that.

"Oh, I apologize." Erika hums and nods. "Right this way, please." Ash almost breathes a sigh of relief and is just about to leave his friends behind -

"Hey, wait up !" Misty hisses from somewhere behind. Ash looks over his shoulder as she charges after, Brock close behind. Ash grins crookedly. "You could've just told us you were starting the match !" The red-head says grumpily. Ash shrugs nocholantly.

"You were the ones not paying attention." Ash tells her simply. Misty merely grumbles, agitated.

* * *

"Alright, Tangela !" Erika calls. Ash considers his options. So, Clefairy, Bulbasaur, or Charmeleon. If his research was correct(and it usually was), then she would be using a Weepinbell and a Gloom, both poison types as well. Well, it does make his choices easier.

"Lets go, Clefairy !" Ash calls. Erika regards the Fairy type with some curiousity - with the rarity of such a species, he's not surprised or bothered, really. "Alright, start off with metronome !" It'd be a lot easier to just use flamethrower or the alike, but Clefairy did like using metronome - and Ash had to admit, it was kind of fun. It'd be even more fun if they didn't run the risk of using explosion or something, though. Clefairy nods happily and begins to wave her fingers, chanting her name until the evn song changed instead to an actual scream. He winces, watching as the blue waves of energy blows into Tangela, driving it back. Erika grimaces.

"Use Confusion !" Erika calls. Oh, was that an egg move ? He wouldn't be surprised, with all the Exeggutor in the gym. Ash frowns, and watches as the fairy type is thrown around the gym.

"Fire Blast !" Ash calls, as soon as he sees Clefairy released, maybe a little bit beaten, but otherwise fine. Clefairy grins as she forms a fireball, then, upon release, grows. Tangela panics and attempts to flee, but gets caught in the blast nonetheless. By the end, it's beaten but still standing, though barely.

"Tangela, Sludge Bomb !" Erika calls, clearly attempting to damage Clefairy as much as possible before Tangela fainted. Clefairy yelps as the attack hits, and quickly moves to shak off the remaining sludge, shivering slightly. Then, clearly highly annoyed, Clefairy begins to chant as she waves her fingers - metronome, it seems. Clefairy makes a cicle of fire with its hands before itself, before releasing a steam of red-orange fires at Tangela. Ash blinks in surprise - that was Mystical Fire, wasn't it ? But nonetheless, by the end, Tangela is thoroughly fainted. Clefairy then sticks her nose into the air with a 'hmph.'

"Return, Clefairy." Ash grins at the Fairy type's attitude - he supposes it was a good idea he didn't use her against Weepinbell or Gloom, to be honest.

"Weepinbell, it's time to battle." Erika speaks next, and the Flycatcher Pokemon forms. Ash hums.

"Bulbasaur !" He calls. He'll save Charmeleon for Gloom, then. "Right, uh, use Skull Bash !" Oh dear, maybe this wasn't such a great idea, considering that Bulbasaur literally only knew. Bulbasaur shakes its head tiredly, but charges at the Flycatcher Pokemon nonetheless.

Weepinbell goes flying, but recovers swiftly, glowering at Bulbasaur irritably. Then, Weepinbell charges at Bulbasaur and clamps its jaws onto the Bulb Pokemon - from what he can tell, the move itself is Leech Life. Ash bristles slightly. Bulbasaur then shakes Weepinbell off, proceeding to use Whirlwind(arceus knows how he learned the move). Whirlwind wasn't particularly powerful, but it did blow Weepinbell back a few steps.

Weepinbell grumbles and prepares a Razor Leaf, which Bulbasaur breezile put up a Protect shield for. Weepinbell then sighs and uses Solarbeam - though, it was indoors, so this mostly translated to a bunch of bright orbs in the gym. Yet, as Weepinbell tried to charge once more, significantly faster than before, Bulbasaur steps to the side. Right, so that was kind of useless, since Bulbasaur _also_ had the ability Chlorophyll.

"Uh. Bulbasaur, Take Down !" Ash calls. Bulbasaur doesn't hesitate this time, charges across the gym to ram forcefully into Weepinbell. Then, Bulbasaur charges once more, hitting Weepinbell again, to which it faints at last. Ash breathes a sigh of relief.

"... Fine, but you won't beat this Pokemon as easily." Erika tells him, more irritated than last as she recalls her Weepinbell. "Gloom !"

"Charmeleon !" Ash calls back. The Fire-type forms on the battlefield, flame-tipped tail lashing. Erika frowns.

"Gloom, Poison Powder !" Gloom calls. Ash tips his head. What was the point of that ?

"Burn it up, Charmeleon !" Ash calls back. Charmeleon does so, powder vanishing from the air. Then, turning his head to Gloom, he releases yet another blast of Flamethrower. Gloom winces, but doesn't seem nearly as affected as the other Pokemon had been. Perhaps this would take a little longer than the others, huh ? "Now, Dragon Rage !" Now, Dragon Rage wasn't the most powerful move out there, but it did give wear Gloom down a little more, he supposed.

"Toxic, then." Erika has a look on her face like she accidentally mixed the two up. So does that mean she used Toxic when facing certain types of Pokemon ? Huh. Charmeleon is unable to rid himself of the violet liquid in time as it hits him, however. And, judging by the purple sheen to Charmeleon's face, he was poisoned. Ugh. Ash's least favorite status condition.

"Alright, then - Inferno, Charmeleon !" Ash calls. He needs to end the match before the poison takes too much out of the fire type. It shouldn't be too hard, if he decides to go by type advantage.

"Venoshock !" Erika calls. Ash frowns as the globs of purple liquid hits Charmeleon, who shudders. It's clearly worse than the fire-type is letting on, but he's not going to call the fire-type out on it.

"Flare Blitz !" Ash calls, rather hurriedly. Charmeleon lifts its head and charges at Gloom, becoming surrounded by orange flames as it shoots after Gloom. He's clearly putting a lot more effort into the attack, believing it to be the finishing move. Gloom is unable to get out of the way in time, and it's launched backwards as it's hit, slamming into the grounds moments later. After the light smoke clears, its discovered that Gloom has fainted - Charmeleon himself is on his last legs, but he gives Ash a clumsy thumbs up. Ash grins back widely.

/

"And here's your Rainbow badge." Erika tells Ash evenly. She sighs. "Of course, if I hadn't underestimated you so thoroughly it might have not been so easy for you." ... So she was going easy on him ? That explained why the matches were so easy. He groans.

"Ah, c'mon ..." He whines, even as he takes the badge from Erika's hands. "Uh, thanks though." Hm, so he was heading to Fuschia next ... And maybe he could drop Gyarados and Charmeleon off at Oak's lab, since they seem to have gotten used to their new forms pretty well. That was good, then.

* * *

 **IMPORTANT UPDATE : this isnt absolutely urgent, but ive uploaded a story called 'all that glitters is not gold'(yea the titles awful but) and its a sidestory to this one. its just full of snippets revolving around this au(?), and updates will come randomly. the very first chapter is abt popplio's old trainer and the st. annie. next chapter will most likly be porta vista. basically, its to expand on things that happened, but id like to warn you that it gets really dark sometimes, and the first chapter is kind of bloody too. if you dont read the fic, dont worry, it wont contain anything necessary to the story.**

 **guest: no worries, though i apologize, i was a moron when replying to the review yesterday :p i actually meant to confirm ash as the chosen one in this story(and actually attempt to give it meaning), but i dont like proofreading because i hate my life /finger guns/ of course i wont forget about shamouti, though ! no movies will be forgotten in this story, though i have to say that movie one will be ... complicated. im still working out the details there. and, assuming it was you who reviewed n agg, you probably already know the answer to ur question**

 **beautiful-liar13 : thanks a whole bunch ! and 'stalked by any pokemon' ? its certainly an interesting idea ! i dont have any plans for it at the moment, but knowing how impulsively i do things, i might include it in the story somewhere. (if you dont mind, of course !)**

 **luqie10 : of course, eevee only evolved once they were already in the pokemon tower, and whats the point of gathering all that courage to enter, just to leave as soon as eevee evolved ? and itd be unfair to umbreon, too - she evolved primarily to give them some light, and they leave right after that ? pokemon evolution signifies something in this au. maybe they want to win the battle, maybe they want to make their win seem more significant, or maybe they just want to help their trainers, either way, they want to make it something to remember. It'd practically an insult if their trainers dont take advantage of what they did just for them. besides, ghost types are useful for more than psychic types, right ? lmao anyways, sorry for ranting - i havent given this story as much thought as youd think, but what i have thought up ive put some depth into, even if my writing is shit.**

 **jay: hi there ! im not sure why im replying if you're not going to read this, seeing as im fairly certain that you stopped reading in chapter 8, when reviewed. unless you did continue, which is unlikely. well, we do agree on something : my writing is** _ **awful.**_ **this is the first real story ive written, but im spending at least 6 hours straight writing out each chapter. and in what way am i racist ? how are 'most writers' racist ? im really just curious. as for misty, shes an okay character, hence why i brought her back into the story, so if that's your main complaint, you can hush. and actually i think ash-greninja is awesome, but you have your own opinion, so i'll respect it. as for ash's abilities, he will be learning aura, just not right now. and talking to pokemon, well, it'll come with the aura. leafwhistle is just going too far, though. as for your recommended stories, well, i havent read them, and i hate to admit, im not interested in them. and recommended pokemon, he will be getting vulpix and growlithe for sure. thanks for your opinion, though ! i couldve done much better with constructive criticism rather than whatever this is, though.**

 **sorry abt my tone in reviews everyone, bc i tend to rant a lot ? rest in pieces me**

 **on hand : frogadier, pikachu, krabby, umbreon(s), espeon, popplio, rockruff, haunter, primeape**

 **at the lab : butterfree, pidgeotto, clefairy, bulbasaur, squirtle, gyarados, charmeleon.**


	12. authors note (rewriting)

I cant believe people are still reading this piece of trash its been like a year apsfdsw

Listen, I was just planning on dropping this. But then I saw the reviews again and I just sort of thought 'how can I disappoint this many people'

So. Rewrite. Again. For the third time.

I barely remember what the old storyline was gonna be but,,,, heres the deal. Im completely reworking everything – his pokemon, an actual, proper storyline. Don't expect anything for a while(a few days? A week? A month?), but we'll have the same general basis.

As for pokemon, now's the time to start recommending some. I have no promises that he'll keep some of his pokemon, aside from froakie and Pikachu, but I'm capping us at about 8 pokemon per region at most and only about 3-4 shinies overall.

Um,,,, as for storyline, we're gonna have a real fun time. Ill be taking some of your ideas that you've given – no worries, though, ill give credit ! im just,,,, really bad at storylines. And being original in general. Ill learn someday ahfdsfasjkl


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